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Pinpointe User’s Guide
Edition 2.1
October 2008
About This User’s Guide
How to Use This User’s Guide
This user’s guide describes Pinpointe’s Graphical User Interface (GUI). It shows you how
to use each screen in the GUI.
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•
•
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Use the Introduction to get a basic overview of Pinpointe.
Use the Getting Started chapter to start sending emails right away.
Use the Troubleshooting chapter to diagnose and solve specific problems.
Use the rest of the user’s guide to see in-depth descriptions of Pinpointe’s features.
The chapters are roughly arranged in order of the frequency with which you are
likely to use them when configuring Pinpointe.
Written by Rick Carlile.
DISCLAIMER: The information in this user’s guide is accurate at the time of writing.
This user’s guide is provided “as is” without express or implied warranty of any kind.
Neither the manufacturer nor its agents assume any liability for inaccuracies in this
user’s guide, or losses incurred by use or misuse of the information in this user’s guide.
I
INTRODUCTION
This section contains the following chapters:
Introduction
Getting Started
Logging In to Pinpointe
Pinpointe Interface
Introduction
Introducing Pinpointe
Congratulations on your purchase! Pinpointe gives you an unprecedented ability to
create, manage and automate large-scale email marketing campaigns, mailing lists,
and automatic responses.
Note: If you want to start using Pinpointe to send out emails right away, see Getting
Started.
Pinpointe Overview
Here’s an overview of how Pinpointe works. The figure below shows how Pinpointe’s
most important components interact. The rest of this chapter describes the
components in this figure.
Figure 1 Pinpointe Overview
Contacts
Contacts are the people about whom you store information in Pinpointe. These are the
people to whom you send emails.
Contact lists
Pinpointe stores all of your contacts in contact lists.
You can have multiple contacts lists, and you can configure each contact list to work in
a different way. For example, you can configure one contact list to send out automatic
emails to its members every month, and configure another list to take no automatic
action. You can also configure information differently for each contact list (such as the
“from” address of the emails you send out, and your company name).
Manual Input, CSV Files and Website Forms
There are three ways to add contacts to a contact list: by inputting them manually oneby-one, by uploading a CSV (Comma-Separated Value) file with information on
multiple contacts, or by having contacts fill out a form on your website.
Note: You can output a CSV file from many database and spreadsheet applications
(Microsoft Excel, for example). When you upload a CSV file to Pinpointe, you can
specify how Pinpointe should populate the contact list with the information in the
file.
Pinpointe helps you create forms you can put on your website to let your customers
sign up for your newsletter or emails.
Note: You can design forms in Pinpointe, and then paste the HTML directly into your
web pages. You can also put some kinds of forms into the emails you send out.
There are three ways to add contacts to a contact list: by inputting them manually oneby-one, by uploading a CSV (Comma-Separated Value) file with multiple contacts’
information, or by having contacts fill out a form on your website.
Note: You can output a CSV file from many database and spreadsheet applications
(Microsoft Excel, for example). When you upload a CSV file to Pinpointe, you can
specify how it should populate the contact list with the information in the file.
Templates
Use HTML and plain-text templates to form the basis of your email campaigns.
Templates make your emails attractive and promote your brand identity.
Either use the templates included with Pinpointe, which are designed specifically to
display correctly in all popular email clients, or design your own using Pinpointe’s fullyfeatured HTML development editor and plain-text editor.
Email Campaigns
Email campaigns are the emails that you send out from Pinpointe to the people on a
contact list.
Email campaigns are based on an HTML or plain-text template, and are sent to
members of a contact list. You control when you send email campaigns; you can send
them at the click of a button, or schedule them to be sent out at a specific point in the
future.
Autoresponders
Like email campaigns, autoresponders are emails based on HTML or plain-text
templates. However, autoresponders are sent out automatically at pre-defined
intervals after a contact is added to a contact list.
For example, you may want to send out one autoresponder as soon as contacts are
added to the list (“Thanks for joining our mailing list!”) and another a month or a year
after they join (“You’ve been reading our daily newsletter for 30 days now; tell us what
you think!”).
Custom Fields
Custom fields are variables that are added to a contact list. You can add any kind of
variable you want (“City”, “Date of birth”, “Zip code”, “Hat size” - whatever you need).
When you add a custom field to a contact list, you can then add it in to an email
campaign.
Pinpointe already has a lot of built-in custom fields that you can use to personalize your
emails. For example, if you required that a contact fills in a “First name” field in the
website form, you can then send out an email that automatically addresses the contact
as “Dear Joe”. This function is similar to the “mail merge” feature found in some word
processing and database applications
Note: If you are going to use custom fields in emails, it is strongly recommended that
you make them mandatory (a contact must fill them in to sign up). This way, you
can be sure that you will have no embarrassing gaps in your emails.
Email Tracking
Pinpointe allows you to track and view a variety of information about the emails you
send; how many are opened (and when), how many links are clicked in each one (and
which link was clicked), and so on.
Bounce Tracking
Bounced emails are those that never reach their destination.
This can happen for numerous reasons. However, if you keep sending emails to an
address that does not accept them, there is a danger that your email server could be
blacklisted (making it much more difficult to send subsequent emails to anybody). To
avoid this, Pinpointe can track bounced emails, discover why they were bounced, and
automatically act by deactivating contact’s email addresses. The contact’s details
remain in the list, but emails are no longer sent.
Pinpointe can tell the difference between emails that bounced for temporary reasons (a
contact’s inbox was full, for example) and those that bounced for permanent reasons
(the account does not exist, for example). Pinpointe can then take different action
depending on the type of bounce that occurred.
Cron
Cron (an abbreviation of “chronograph”) is a program that activates other programs,
commands and processes at pre-determined times and intervals. It is a way of
scheduling tasks to happen automatically. Pinpointe server uses cron jobs to take care
of sending out scheduled emails, handling autoresponders and bounced emails, and a
variety of other tasks.
Getting Started
Use this chapter if you want to start sending out emails right away. The steps in this
chapter show you how to set up a list of your contacts, and send emails to them.
Note: Pinpointe should already be set up and configured on your server. If you are in
doubt, check with your system administrator or whoever is in charge of the server.
Steps marked with a red asterisk (*) are necessary. The other steps are not necessary,
but allow you to perform additional, useful tasks.
Follow the links to other parts of this user’s guide for information on how to complete
each step.
1 Log in to Pinpointe. *
Use your username and password to access Pinpointe.
See Logging Into Pinpointe.
2 Set up a contact list. *
Create a list to hold information about your contacts (the people to whom you
send your emails). You can also configure the following:
• Your name, email address, and other personal details.
• Your company’s name, address and phone number.
• Where bounced emails should be sent.
• Which custom fields you want to use (see step 3).
• Which fields you want to see when you view the list.
See Creating and Editing Contact Lists.
3 Create custom fields.
If you want to collect a specific type of information about your contacts, you can
create a custom field to hold the information.
• You can specify the kind of field you want to make (text box, drop-down list,
check box, and so on), and a variety of other settings.
• You can also specify whether or not the field should be mandatory (if a field is
mandatory, it must be filled in before you can successfully add a contact to the
list).
See Creating and Editing Custom Fields.
Note: Skip this step if you do not want to collect information that is not covered by the
built-in fields.
4 Add contacts to your contact list. *
Manually add information about one or more people to whom you want to send
emails. You can also upload a file containing contacts’ information, if you have one.
See Adding or Editing a Contact.
5 Create a signup form.
Use Pinpointe to create an HTML form you can add to your website that allows
people to add their information to your contact list.
See Creating and Editing Forms. Skip this step if you do not want to allow people
to sign up to join your contact list.
6 Place the signup form on your website.
Add the HTML form you created in step 5 to a page on your website.
See Adding a Form to Your Website. Skip this step if you did not create a form in
step 5.
7 Create an email campaign. *
Email campaigns control the emails you sent to the contacts on your contact list.
• Specify whether you want to send an HTML email, a plain-text email, or both
(known as “multipart”).
• Design the HTML and/or text components of the campaign. Use the built-in
templates, modify a template, or build your own from scratch.
• Write your email’s text content.
• Use custom fields, if required.
• Activate the email: allow it to be sent to your contacts.
• Validate your email, if required: check how it looks in popular email clients.
• Preview your email, if required: send a test copy to your own email address.
• Save the campaign.
See Creating and Editing Email Campaigns.
8 Send your campaign to your contacts. *
Select the contact list to which you want to send the email campaign, and send it
out to the contacts belonging to the list.
See Sending Email Campaigns.
9 Check statistics about your campaign.
Find out how many of your emails reached their targets successfully, how many
were opened, and a variety of other statistics.
See Viewing Email Campaign Statistics. Skip this step if you do not want to view
statistics about your campaign.
Logging In to Pinpointe
Take the following steps to log in to Pinpointe.
1 Open your Internet browser and enter Pinpointe’s URL in the address bar. Hit
Enter or click Go.
Figure 2 Login Screen
2 Enter your Username and Password.
3 Select the screen you want to see once you have logged in.
• Home page: see Using The Home Screen.
• My contacts: see Viewing and Managing Contacts.
• My contact lists: see Viewing and Managing Contact Lists.
• My segments: see Creating, Editing and Viewing Segments.
• My email campaigns: see Viewing and Managing Email Campaigns.
• My autoresponders: see Viewing Autoresponders.
• My campaign statistics: see Viewing Email Campaign Statistics.
4 If you want Pinpointe to remember your Username and Password, click
Remember my details. If you do not want Pinpointe to remember your details,
leave this box unchecked.
Note: Select Remember my details only when you are the only person with access to
the computer you are using. NEVER select this on a public computer. Failure to
adequately protect the details of your contacts may contravene your local data
protection laws.
5 Click Login. If your Username and Password are correct, the screen you selected
in step 3 displays.
Note: If you forgot your password, click the Forgot your password link. A screen
displays in which you can enter your Username. Click Send email. An email is
sent to the email address you registered with Pinpointe. You can click a link in the
email to regain access to Pinpointe.
Pinpointe Interface
This chapter discusses Pinpointe’s Graphical User Interface (GUI). The GUI lets you
control every aspect of Pinpointe.
Pinpointe Interface at a Glance
The GUI is divided up into three parts.
Figure 3 Pinpointe Interface at a Glance
• See The Toolbar for more information on the toolbar.
• See The Navigation Bar for more information on the navigation bar.
• The fields that display in the workspace depend on the screen you are currently
viewing. The Navigation Bar and The Toolbar sections of this user’s guide deal with
the workspace.
Tooltips and Knowledge Base Links
Many objects in the GUI have tooltip icons next to them (
). Place your mouse
pointer over the tooltip to see more information about the object.
Figure 4 Tooltips
Other objects have text links next to them. Click these links to see an article from the
knowledge base on the subject.
Figure 5 Knowledge Base Links
To see more articles in the knowledge base, click Help in the toolbar.
Sorting Lists
When you see
Click
order.
and
arrow icons in a list heading, use them to sort the list.
to sort the list in ascending order, or click
to sort the list in descending
Navigating Lists
In pages with numerous list entries, navigation tools display.
Figure 6 Navigating Lists
Table 1 Navigating Lists
Results per page
Select the number of list entries to display in each page.
<<
Click this to go to the first page in the list.
Back
Click this to move backward one page in the list.
1, 2, 3, ...
Click this to go to the numbered page in the list.
Next
Click this to move forward one page in the list.
>>
Click this to go to the last page in the list.
The Toolbar
The toolbar displays in every screen.
Figure 7 The Toolbar
Use the toolbar to perform tasks related to Pinpointe’s system and management.
Table 2 The Toolbar
Home
Click this to return to the Home page, where you can see your contact activity
for the last seven days and use the Getting Started tool.
Note: The Getting Started tool walks you through the basic configuration
steps you need to take to set up Pinpointe and start sending email
campaigns.
Templates
Click this to view built-in email templates, or to create or configure your own
custom email templates.
Note: Templates control the appearance of the emails you send.
User Accounts
Click this to go to the User Accounts screen, where you can create, delete and
manage user accounts.
Note: When you create new users, you can specify the features, templates,
contact lists and so on to which each user has access.
Tools
Click this and select System Information to see information about your
server’s configuration.
Settings
Click this to go to the Settings screen, where you can view and change global
systems, email and database settings.
Logout
Click this to log out of Pinpointe. You will need your user name and password to
log back in.
Help
Click this to go to the online knowledge base, where you can read help articles
on all of Pinpointe’s features.
The Navigation Bar
The navigation bar displays in every screen.
Figure 8 The Navigation Bar
Use the navigation bar to go to screens where you can create, configure and manage
your email campaigns.
Table 3 The Navigation Bar
Contact Lists
Click this to see a menu that lets you manage contact lists, bounced emails and
contact list segments.
Note: Bounced emails are emails you sent that could not be delivered.
Note: Segments are groups of contact list entries that share a particular feature;
for example, entries with “.com” in the address.
Contacts
Click this to see a menu that lets you manage contacts manually, upload or
download a file of contacts, and manage suppression lists.
Note: Pinpointe uses CSV (Comma-Separated Value) files to upload contacts.
Many common applications such as Microsoft Outlook and Excel can export
CSV files.
Note: Suppression lists contain email addresses to which emails are not sent,
even though the address remains on the contact list.
Email
Campaigns
Click this to see a menu that allows you to view, create and send email
campaigns, and view scheduled emails.
Note: Scheduled emails are emails you have configured Pinpointe to send out at
a particular point in the future.
Autoresponder Click this to see a menu that allows you to create, view and edit autoresponders.
s
Note: Autoresponders are emails that are sent out automatically after they are
triggered by a specific event (for example, as soon as a contact joins your
list).
Custom Fields
Click this to see a menu that lets you create, view and edit subscription form
custom fields.
Note: By default, subscription forms contain only Email Address and Contact
Format (plain text or HTML) fields. Custom fields help you gather more
information about your contacts when they join your list.
Forms
Click this to see a menu that lets you create, view and edit website forms.
Note: You can create forms for your website that let contacts subscribe,
unsubscribe, modify their details, or send information to a friend.
Stats
Click this to see a menu that lets you view statistics about your email campaigns,
autoresponders, contact lists and user accounts.
II
THE NAVIGATION BAR
This section contains the following chapters:
Using Contact Lists
Using Custom Fields
Using Contacts
Using Forms
Using Email Campaigns
Using Autoresponders
Editing HTML and Text
Using Statistics
Using Contact Lists
This chapter discusses how to use the Contact lists menu in the navigation bar.
Figure 9 The Contact Lists Menu
Contact List Overview
Contact lists are the basic building block of your email campaigns. Each contact list
contains information about a set of contacts: the people to whom you send your emails.
You can create separate contact lists for different types of contacts (for example, one
list for leads from a trade show and another for people who sign up for your company
email newsletter).
When you create an email campaign, you send it to one or more contact lists. You can
also send an email campaign to a segment (see Contact List Segments).
Contact List Information
A contact list contains a variety of information about each contact. The type and extent
of information you collect about each contact is configurable.
For example, a contact list for trade show leads might contain basic information, such
as:
•
•
•
•
First and last name.
Email address.
Company name.
Job title.
However, another type of list might contain different types of information. For example,
a contact list for customers of a men’s clothing store might contain information such as:
• First and last name.
• Email address.
• Suit jacket size.
• Last product purchased.
The information a contact list contains depends solely upon the built-in and custom
fields that you define and populate with information. When you create contacts
yourself (by entering information from business cards after a trade show, for instance)
you must enter the information yourself; when contacts add themselves to lists (by
signing up for a newsletter, for instance) they must enter the information themselves.
These fields allow you to personalize your email campaigns. For example, the owner of
the men’s clothing store would be able to use the custom fields mentioned above to
send out highly personalized emails such as:
“Dear Mr. Smith,
Thank you so much for purchasing your overcoat from our store recently. As a
valued customer, I would like to let you know about our fall line of sport coats
available in your size, 42 long.”
Bounced Emails
“Bounced” emails are emails you send that cannot be delivered to the recipient. This
can happen for a variety of reasons: the recipient’s mailbox is full, the account has been
closed, or does not exist, and so on. When an email bounces, an error message is
returned to Pinpointe.
Pinpointe allows you to process bounced emails by deactivating the relevant contact in
the contact list. Subsequent emails are not send to the contact. This is important,
because an email server that repeatedly sends email that is subsequently rejected by
other servers can become blacklisted for spamming.
Note: Contacts are not deleted from the list. This allows you to keep the contact’s
information, and also ensures that the invalid email address is not later added to
the contact list by accident.
There are two types of bounced emails. A “soft bounce” occurs if the error message
returned is temporary (such as “the recipient’s email inbox is full”). A “hard bounce”
occurs if the error message is permanent (such as “the email account does not exist”).
When a soft bounce occurs, no action is taken - but the bounce is logged. If a contact
receives five soft bounces, it is treated as a hard bounce. When a hard bounce occurs,
the contact is deactivated immediately.
Contact List Segments
Segments are sets of contact list members who all fulfil certain criteria. For example, all
members of a contact list whose e-mail addresses end in “.co.uk”.
You can use multiple criteria to define segments. For example, all members of a contact
list with two or more children and a household income of over $100,000.
The criteria that you can use to define segments depend on the built-in and custom
fields you use for the contact list. This allows you to target the audience for each of your
email campaigns with great precision, as long as you collect the right information about
your contacts.
For instance, a record company promoter ensures that all the people who sign up for his
label’s email newsletter give their age and location. This means he can later target an
email campaign inviting recipients to a label party in a Manhattan nightclub to the right
segment of his contact list: those who are over 21 years old and live in New York.
Segments can belong to a single list, or span multiple lists.
Viewing and Managing Contact Lists
To manage a contact list you already created (see Creating and Editing Contact Lists),
click Contact lists in the navigation bar. Select View contact lists.
You can:
• Delete selected list(s): remove the list (or lists) from Pinpointe. The list cannot be
retrieved.
• Delete contacts in selected list(s): remove all the contacts in the list (or lists). The
contacts cannot be retrieved. The list remains, but contains no contacts.
• Update contacts to receive text campaigns: change the status of all the contacts
in the list (or lists) allowing them to receive emails in text format.
• Update contacts to receive HTML campaigns: change the status of all the contacts
in the list (or lists) allowing them to receive emails in HTML format.
• Update contacts status to confirmed: confirmed contacts are those who have
replied to a confirmation request email. Use this to change all the contacts in the
selected list (or lists) to confirmed contacts.
• Update contacts status to unconfirmed: unconfirmed contacts are those who have
not yet replied to a confirmation request email. Use this to change all the contacts
in the selected list (or lists) to unconfirmed contacts.
• Merge the selected lists together: select two or more lists and use this to combine
them. An Edit contact list screen displays (see Creating and Editing Contact Lists
for information on the fields in this screen), allowing you to define the new,
combined, list.
You can also view, search and add contacts, and edit, copy or delete a contact list.
Figure 10 Viewing Contact Lists
Table 4 Viewing Contact Lists
Create contact list
Use this to create a new contact list. See Creating and Editing Contact
Lists for more information.
Choose an action
Select one or more contact lists, select an option from the list and click
Go to perform the selected action.
Select a box belonging to a contact list before choosing an option from
the Choose an action list.
Select the box at the top of the column to select all contact lists.
List name
This is the name you gave the contact list. Click Edit to change the name
and other details.
Created
This displays the date on which you created the contact list.
Contacts
This displays the number of contacts currently associated with the
contact list.
List owner
This is the default name used when sending email campaigns to this
contact list.
Archive
Click this to go to the archived list of email campaigns sent to this list.
Action
• Click View contacts to see a list of the contacts belonging to the
contact list. See Viewing Contact List Contacts.
• Click Search contacts to search for contacts in the selected list. The
Contacts > Search contacts > Next screen displays.
• Click Add contact to add a new contact to the selected list. The
screen that displays is the same as the Contacts > Add a contact >
Next screen.
• Click Edit to configure the contact list. The screen that displays is the
same as the Create a contact list screen. See Creating and Editing
Contact Lists.
• Click Copy to create a new copy of the contact list. The new list
displays, with “Copy of” appended to the original name.
• Click Delete to remove the contact list from Pinpointe.
Viewing Contact List Contacts
To view a list of the contacts belonging to a contact list, click Contact lists in the
navigation bar, select View contact lists, and then click the View contacts link next to
a contact list.
You can:
• Add a new contact: add a contact to the contact list.
• Delete selected contact(s): remove the selected contacts from Pinpointe.
• Update contacts to receive text campaigns: change the status of selected
contacts, allowing them to receive emails in text format.
• Update contacts to receive HTML campaigns: change the status of selected
contacts, allowing them to receive emails in HTML format.
• Update contacts status to confirmed: confirmed contacts are those who have
replied to a confirmation request email. Use this to change the selected contact or
contacts to confirmed status.
• Update contacts status to unconfirmed: unconfirmed contacts are those who have
not yet replied to a confirmation request email. Use this to change the selected
contact or contacts to unconfirmed status.
You can also view, edit and delete contacts.
Figure 11 Viewing Contact List Members
Table 5 Viewing Contact List Members
View
This displays the contact list name. Click the triangular icon to view
Contact lists or Segments.
Figure 12 Contact List and Segment Menu
Search
Use this to search for contacts in the list by their email address. Enter
your search term in the text field and click the Search button.
Click Advanced search to go to the Contacts > Search contacts screen.
Add a contact to my
list
Click this to add a new contact to the contact list. The screen that
displays is the same as the Contacts > Add a contact > Next screen.
Choose an action
Select one or more contacts, select an option from the list and click Go to
perform the selected action.
Select a box belonging to a contact before choosing an option from the
Choose an action list.
Select the box at the top of the column to select all contacts.
Email address
This is the address to which emails for this contact are sent.
Date added
This is the date this contact was added to the contact list.
Email format
• This displays HTML if the contact is configured to receive HTML
emails.
• This displays Text if the contact is configured to receive plain text
emails.
Activity status
• This displays active if emails are sent to the contact.
• This displays unsubscribed if the contact was unsubscribed from the
list.
• This displays bounced if emails to this contact have not been
delivered, and emails are no longer sent to the contact.
Confirmed
• This displays Confirmed if the contact has replied to a confirmation
request email.
• This displays Unconfirmed if the contact has not yet replied to a
confirmation request email.
Action
• Click View to see information about the contact. The Contacts > View
contact screen displays.
• Click Edit to modify the contact’s information. The Contacts > Edit
contact screen displays.
• Click Delete to remove the contact from Pinpointe.
Creating and Editing Contact Lists
Take the following steps to create or edit a contact list:
1 To create a new contact list, click Contact lists in the navigation bar. Select Create
a contact list.
To edit an existing contact list, click Contact lists in the navigation bar, select
View contact lists. Click the Edit link next to the contact list you want to modify.
2 Configure the fields in the screen that displays.
Figure 13 Create or Edit a Contact List
Table 6 Create or Edit a Contact List
New list details
List name
Enter the name for this contact list. This name appears in the control
panel and subscription forms.
List owner’s name
Enter the name of the list owner. This is the name that appears on emails
to this contact list.
List owner’s email
Enter the e-mail address of the list owner. This is the default “from”
address that displays on email sent to this contact list.
List reply-to email
Enter the default reply email address for emails sent to this contact list.
Notify the list
owner
Select the check box to have an email sent to the List owner’s email
every time a contact subscribes to, or unsubscribes from, the list.
Custom fields
Add these fields to Select the custom fields you want to associate with this list.
list
Visible fields
Show these fields
Select the fields you want to display in the list’s View contacts page.
Company details
Company name
Enter your company name. This is used when you add the
%%companyname%% variable in your emails to this list.
Note: Configure this field and use the %%companyname%% variable in your
emails to adhere to the CAN-SPAM act.
Company address
Enter your company address. This is used when you add the
%%companyaddress%% variable in your emails to this list.
Note: Configure this field and use the %%companyaddress%% variable in
your emails to adhere to the CAN-SPAM act.
Company phone
number
Enter your company address. This is used when you add the
%%companyphone%% variable in your emails to this list.
Note: Configure this field and use the %%companyphone%% variable in your
emails to adhere to the CAN-SPAM act.
3 Click Save to save your changes. Alternatively, click Cancel to return to the View
contact lists screen without saving any changes.
Processing Bounced Emails
Bounced email processing clears your contact lists of invalid emails (see Bounced
Emails).
If you use automatic bounced email processing, you do not need to perform manual
bounced email processing.
Creating, Editing and Viewing Segments
Click Contact lists in the navigation bar, then click View segments.
Figure 19 Viewing Segments
Table 8 Viewing Segments
Create a segment
Click this to define a new segment of one or more contact list contacts.
See Creating a Segment.
Select a box belonging to a segment before choosing an option from the
Choose an action list.
Select the box at the top of the column to select all segments.
Choose an action
Use this to delete one or more segments. Select the segment (or
segments) you want to delete and select Delete the selected
segment(s).
Segment Name
This displays the descriptive name of the segment.
Created
This displays the date on which the segment was defined.
Contacts
This displays the current number of contacts within the segment (those in
the relevant contact list or lists, whose information matches the
segment’s rules).
Action
• Click View contacts to see a list of all the contacts in a segment. See
Viewing a Segment’s Contacts.
• Click Edit to modify a segment’s settings. The fields that display are
the same as the Create a segment screen; see Creating a Segment.
• Click Copy to create a new copy of the segment. The new segment
displays, with “Copy of” appended to the original name.
• Click Delete to remove the segment from Pinpointe.
Note: When you delete a segment, the contacts in the segment are not
deleted.
Creating a Segment
Take the following steps to create a segment:
1 Click Contact lists in the navigation bar, then View Segments.
Figure 20 Creating a Segment
2 Click Create a Segment.
Figure 21 Creating a Segment: Configure Segment
3 Enter a descriptive Segment name.
4 In the Segment contacts from list, select the contact lists you want to include in
the segment. You can use the search box below the list to find contact lists.
5 Choose a Match type. This controls how Pinpointe applies the rules you configure.
• Select Match all rules (AND condition) to find only contacts who match every
rule you define.
• Select Match any rule (OR condition) to find contacts who match one or more
of the rules you define.
6 Define your Segment rules. These are the conditions a contact must match to be
included in the segment.
Do the following for each rule:
• The first drop-down list contains the fields available for the contact list (or lists)
you selected. Select the basic or custom field you want to base the rule on.
• In the second drop-down list, select contains to search for contacts that match
the information you add in the text field. Select does not contain to search for
contacts that do not match the information you add in the text field.
• In the text field, enter the information you want to search for.
Note: Click the add icon ( ) to insert another rule to the list, or click a rule’s delete icon
( ) to delete the rule from the list.
7 When you have finished configuring your rules, click Save. The View segments
screen displays, with the new segment in the list.
Alternatively click Cancel to return to the View segments screen without saving
your changes.
Viewing a Segment’s Contacts
To view a list of the contacts belonging to a segment, click Contact lists in the
navigation bar, select View segments, and then click the View contacts link next to a
segment.
You can:
• Add a new contact: add a contact to Pinpointe.
• Delete selected contact(s): remove the selected contacts from Pinpointe.
• Update contacts to receive text campaigns: change the status of selected
contacts, allowing them to receive emails in text format.
• Update contacts to receive HTML campaigns: change the status of selected
contacts, allowing them to receive emails in HTML format.
• Update contacts status to confirmed: confirmed contacts are those who have
replied to a confirmation request email. Use this to change the selected contact or
contacts to confirmed status.
• Update contacts status to unconfirmed: unconfirmed contacts are those who have
not yet replied to a confirmation request email. Use this to change the selected
contact or contacts to unconfirmed status.
You can also view, edit and delete contacts.
Figure 22 Viewing a Segment’s Contacts
Table 9 Viewing Segment Contacts
View
This displays the segment name. Click the triangular icon to view
Contact lists or Segments.
Figure 23 Contact List and Segment Menu
Search
Use this to search for contacts in the segment by their email address.
Enter your search term in the text field and click the Search button.
Click Advanced search to go to the Contacts > Search contacts screen.
Add a contact to my
list
Click this to add a new contact. The screen that displays is the same as
the Contacts > Add a contact > Next screen.
Note: When you use this option, the contact is not necessarily added to
the segment. The contact is added to the segment only if it fulfils
the segment’s criteria.
Choose an action
Select one or more contacts, select an option from the list and click Go to
perform the selected action.
Select a box belonging to a contact before choosing an option from the
Choose an action list.
Select the box at the top of the column to select all contacts.
Email address
This is the address to which emails for this contact are sent.
Date added
This is the date this contact was added to the contact list.
Email format
• This displays HTML if the contact is configured to receive HTML
emails.
• This displays Text if the contact is configured to receive plain text
emails.
Activity status
• This displays active if emails are sent to the contact.
• This displays unsubscribed if the contact was unsubscribed from the
list.
• This displays bounced if emails to this contact have not been
delivered, and emails are no longer sent to the contact.
Confirmed
• This displays Confirmed if the contact has replied to a confirmation
request email.
• This displays Unconfirmed if the contact has not yet replied to a
confirmation request email.
Contact list
This displays the name of the contact list to which this contact belongs.
Action
• Click View to see information about the contact. The Contacts > View
contact screen displays.
• Click Edit to modify the contact’s information. The Contacts > Edit
contact screen displays.
• Click Delete to remove the contact.
Using Custom Fields
This chapter discusses how to use the Custom Fields menu in the navigation bar.
Figure 24 The Custom Fields Menu
Custom Fields Overview
Custom fields are placeholder variables that you can use to include contact-specific (or
contact-list-specific) information in your emails.
These variables can be used to represent three types of information:
• Information stored in Pinpointe about you and your company, and those of other
users. This type of information is specific to each contact list. See Using Contact
Lists for more information on the fields, and Inserting Custom Fields for information
on inserting the fields into your emails.
• Links to functions of Pinpointe. These include links that allow users to confirm that
they want to receive emails, to stop receiving emails, to see a version of the email
stored on the Internet, or to see an archive of all emails sent to the relevant list. See
Inserting Custom Fields for information on inserting the fields into your emails.
• Information stored in Pinpointe about a contact (name, email address, country, and
so on). Before you can use contact-specific information, you must first include it in
your contact list. This means defining the custom fields (if they do not already exist
in Pinpointe) and then associating them with a contact list. If you want to populate
your contact list using a website form (which your contacts fill in), you also need to
include the field in your form.
Note: If you intend to use a custom field in your emails, and populate your contact list
using a website form, it is strongly recommended that you make the custom field
mandatory in the form. This will avoid leaving gaps in the text of emails you
subsequently send out.
Use the Custom fields menu in the navigation bar to view and define custom fields for
contact-specific information.
Viewing and Managing Custom Fields
To view an existing custom fields you already created, click Custom fields in the
navigation bar, then click View custom fields. This screen allows you to view and
manage all the custom fields configured in Pinpointe.
You can create, edit and delete custom fields in this screen.
Figure 25 Viewing Custom Fields
Table 10 Viewing Custom Fields
Create a custom field
Click this to define a new custom field. See Creating and Editing Custom
Fields for information on the screens that display.
Delete selected
Select a box belonging to one or more fields, then click this button to
delete the selected fields.
Select a box belonging to a field before clicking the Delete selected
button.
Select the box at the top of the column to select all fields.
Custom field
This displays the name of the custom field.
Created
This displays the date on which you created the custom field.
Type
This displays the type of custom field. See Creating and Editing Custom
Fields for information on the types of custom fields available.
Mandatory
This displays Yes if a contact must complete this field to be added to the
contact list.
Action
• Click Edit to modify a custom field. See Creating and Editing Custom
Fields for information on the screens that display.
• Click Delete to remove a custom field. The field cannot be retrieved.
Creating and Editing Custom Fields
Take the following steps to create a custom field:
1 Click Custom fields in the navigation bar, then click Create custom field.
Figure 26 Create a Custom Field: Type and Name
2 Select the Custom field type:
• Select Text field to create a field into which the user may enter a single line of
text.
• Select Multiline text field to create a field into which the user may enter
multiple lines of text.
• Select Numbers only to create a field into which the user may enter numerals
only.
• Select Pick list to create a drop-down list box from which the user may select an
option.
• Select Checkboxes to create one or more check boxes from which the user may
select multiple options.
• Select Radio buttons to create one or more radio buttons from which the user
may select a single option.
• Select Date field to create a field from which the user may select a date. You
can limit the years available for selection.
3 Enter the name for the field in the Custom field name field.
4 If you want Pinpointe to allow users to join a contact list only once they have
completed this field, select the Is this field required? check box.
5 Click Next. The fields that display in the next screen depend upon the Custom
field type you selected:
• If you selected Text field, see Configuring a Text Field.
• If you selected Multiline text field, see Configuring a Multiline Text Field.
• If you selected Numbers only, see Configuring a Numbers Only Field.
• If you selected Pick list, see Configuring a Pick List.
• If you selected Checkboxes, see Configuring Checkboxes.
• If you selected Radio buttons, see Configuring Radio Buttons.
• If you selected Date field, see Configuring a Date Field.
6 When you have completed the fields in this screen, click Next.
Figure 27 Create a Custom Field: Select Contact List
7 Select the contact list (or lists) in which you want to use this custom field.
8 Click Save to finish configuring your custom field. The View custom fields screen
displays (see Viewing and Managing Custom Fields).
Configuring a Text Field
This section describes how to configure the screen that displays when you select Text
field in the Create a Custom Field: Type and Name screen (see Creating and Editing
Custom Fields).
Figure 28 Configuring a Text Field
Table 11 Configuring a Text Field
Default value
Enter the value that displays by default in the field you are configuring.
Note: If a contact fails to enter information in this field, this value displays
in the contact’s contact list entry.
Field length
Enter the length of the field as you want it to display on your website.
Maximum length
Enter the maximum number of characters a contact may enter in this
field.
Minimum length
Enter the minimum number of characters a contact may enter in this
field.
Next
Click this to save your changes in this screen and proceed with
configuring your custom field. See step 6.
Cancel
Click this to return to the View custom fields screen. See Viewing and
Managing Custom Fields.
Configuring a Multiline Text Field
This section describes how to configure the screen that displays when you select
Multiline text field in the Create a Custom Field: Type and Name screen (see Creating
and Editing Custom Fields).
Figure 29 Configuring a Multiline Text Field
Table 12 Configuring a Multiline Text Field
Default value
Enter the value that displays by default in the field you are configuring.
Note: If a contact fails to enter information in this field, this value displays
in the contact’s contact list entry.
Number of rows
Enter the number of rows you want the text field to have.
Number of columns
Enter the number of columns you want the text field to have.
Next
Click this to save your changes in this screen and proceed with
configuring your custom field. See step 6.
Cancel
Click this to return to the View custom fields screen. See Viewing and
Managing Custom Fields.
Configuring a Numbers Only Field
This section describes how to configure the screen that displays when you select
Numbers only field in the Create a Custom Field: Type and Name screen (see
Creating and Editing Custom Fields).
Figure 30 Configuring a Numbers Only Field
Table 13 Configuring a Numbers Only Field
Default value
Enter the value that displays by default in the field you are configuring.
Note: If a contact fails to enter information in this field, this value displays
in the contact’s contact list entry.
Field length
Enter the length of the field as you want it to display on your website.
Maximum length
Enter the maximum number of characters a contact may enter in this
field.
Minimum length
Enter the minimum number of characters a contact may enter in this
field.
Next
Click this to save your changes in this screen and proceed with
configuring your custom field. See step 6.
Cancel
Click this to return to the View custom fields screen. See Viewing and
Managing Custom Fields.
Configuring a Pick List
This section describes how to configure the screen that displays when you select Pick
List in the Create a Custom Field: Type and Name screen (see Creating and Editing
Custom Fields).
Figure 31 Configuring a Pick List
Table 14 Configuring a Pick List
Instructional text
Enter the text that displays to tell the user how to configure the field.
List of values
Enter all the options the user may pick from the list.
Sort values
alphabetically
Click this to arrange the options from A to Z.
Next
Click this to save your changes in this screen and proceed with
configuring your custom field. See step 6.
Cancel
Click this to return to the View custom fields screen. See Viewing and
Managing Custom Fields.
Configuring Checkboxes
This section describes how to configure the screen that displays when you select
Checkboxes in the Create a Custom Field: Type and Name screen (see Creating and
Editing Custom Fields).
Figure 32 Configuring Checkboxes
Table 15 Configuring Checkboxes
List of values
Enter all the options the user may select. Each option has a checkbox.
Sort values
alphabetically
Click this to arrange the options from A to Z.
Next
Click this to save your changes in this screen and proceed with
configuring your custom field. See step 6.
Cancel
Click this to return to the View custom fields screen. See Viewing and
Managing Custom Fields.
Configuring Radio Buttons
This section describes how to configure the screen that displays when you select Radio
Buttons in the Create a Custom Field: Type and Name screen (see Creating and
Editing Custom Fields).
Figure 33 Configuring Radio Buttons
Table 16 Configuring Radio Buttons
List of values
Enter all the options the user may select (the user may select only one
option). Each option has a radio button.
Sort values
alphabetically
Click this to arrange the options from A to Z.
Next
Click this to save your changes in this screen and proceed with
configuring your custom field. See step 6.
Cancel
Click this to return to the View custom fields screen. See Viewing and
Managing Custom Fields.
Configuring a Date Field
This section describes how to configure the screen that displays when you select Date
Field in the Create a Custom Field: Type and Name screen (see Creating and Editing
Custom Fields).
Figure 34 Configuring a Date Field
Table 17 Configuring a Date Field
Default value
Enter the date (or other text) that displays before the user selects
anything. You may leave this blank if you do not want anything to
display.
Display order
(first/second/third)
Select the order in which you want the day, month and year to display.
Start year
Enter the earliest year the user may select.
End year
Enter the latest year the user may select.
Next
Click this to save your changes in this screen and proceed with
configuring your custom field. See step 6.
Cancel
Click this to return to the View custom fields screen. See Viewing and
Managing Custom Fields.
Using Contacts
This chapter discusses how to use the Contacts menu in the navigation bar.
Figure 35 The Contact Lists Menu
Contacts Overview
A contact is a person to whom you send email campaigns. Contacts can be added to
Pinpointe in one of three ways.
• You manually create a contact record and input the information yourself.
• You import contacts from a CSV (Comma-Separated Value) file. Pinpointe creates
contact records for each entry.
• A contact signs up at your website. Pinpointe creates the contact record.
Contacts are arranged into contact lists. Each contact must belong to one contact list.
See Contact List Overview for more information.
You can also arrange contacts using segments; lists of contacts in one or more contact
lists that share certain criteria. See Creating, Editing and Viewing Segments for more
information.
Each contact has a contact record that contains information about the person it
represents. When you create a contact list, you specify the types of information you
want to hold by selecting the fields for the list. All contact records in a list have the
same fields.
There are two types of field: built-in and custom. You can define custom fields yourself,
using the Custom fields > Create a custom field screens.
The minimum required information for a contact is:
• Email address: required to send emails.
• Email format (HTML or text): required so that users with text-only email clients are
not sent HTML emails.
• Confirmation status (confirmed or unconfirmed): required so that you can use
double-opt-in confirmation. When you use double-opt-in confirmation, users who
sign up to your contact list receive an email to confirm that they want to join.
Note: Double-opt-in confirmation is not mandatory. However, it is strongly
recommended that you use it in order to avoid sending potentially unwanted
emails.
Viewing and Managing Contacts
To view the contacts stored in Pinpointe, click Contacts in the navigation bar, then click
View all contacts.
You can:
• Add a new contact: add a contact to Pinpointe.
• Delete selected contact(s): remove the selected contacts from Pinpointe.
• Update contacts to receive text campaigns: change the status of selected
contacts, allowing them to receive emails in text format.
• Update contacts to receive HTML campaigns: change the status of selected
contacts, allowing them to receive emails in HTML format.
• Update contacts status to confirmed: confirmed contacts are those who have
replied to a confirmation request email. Use this to change the selected contact or
contacts to confirmed status.
• Update contacts status to unconfirmed: unconfirmed contacts are those who have
not yet replied to a confirmation request email. Use this to change the selected
contact or contacts to unconfirmed status.
You can also view, edit and delete contacts.
Figure 36 Viewing Contacts
Table 18 Viewing Contacts
View
By default, this displays All contacts. Click the triangular icon to view
Contact lists or Segments.
Figure 37 Contact List and Segment Menu
Search
Use this to search for contacts in the segment by their email address.
Enter your search term in the text field and click the Search button.
Click Advanced search to go to the Contacts > Search contacts screen.
Add a contact to my
list
Click this to add a new contact to Pinpointe. The screen that displays is
the same as the Contacts > Add a contact > Next screen.
Note: When you use this option, the contact is not necessarily added to
the segment. The contact is added to the segment only if it fulfils
the segment’s criteria.
Choose an action
Select one or more contacts, select an option from the list and click Go to
perform the selected action.
Select a box belonging to a contact before choosing an option from the
Choose an action list.
Select the box at the top of the column to select all contacts.
Email address
This is the address to which emails for this contact are sent.
Date added
This is the date this contact was added to the contact list.
Email format
• This displays HTML if the contact is configured to receive HTML
emails.
• This displays Text if the contact is configured to receive plain text
emails.
Activity status
• This displays active if emails are sent to the contact.
• This displays unsubscribed if the contact was unsubscribed from the
list.
• This displays bounced if emails to this contact have not been
delivered, and emails are no longer sent to the contact.
Confirmed
• This displays Confirmed if the contact has replied to a confirmation
request email.
• This displays Unconfirmed if the contact has not yet replied to a
confirmation request email.
Contact list
This displays the name of the contact list to which this contact belongs.
Action
• Click View to see information about the contact. The Contacts > View
contact screen displays.
• Click Edit to modify the contact’s information. The Contacts > Edit
contact screen displays.
• Click Delete to remove the contact from Pinpointe.
Searching Contacts
Take the following steps to conduct an advanced search of your contacts.
Note: To conduct a simple search, use the Search box in the Contacts > View all
contacts screen (and other screens).
1 Click Contacts in the navigation bar, then click Search contacts.
Figure 38 Searching Contacts: Choose List or Segment
2 Choose one of the Search options.
• Select View specific contacts from within the selected lists below to search
contact lists. A list of contact lists displays below.
• Select View all contacts within the selected segments below to search
segments. A list of segments displays below.
3 Select the Contact list(s) or Segment(s) you want to search below.
4 If you want to search for a contact list or segment, enter the list or segment’s
name in the Type here to search field.
5 Click Next.
Figure 39 Searching Contacts: Filter and Show Fields
6 Configure the Filter by basic details fields:
• If you want to search for all or part of an email address, enter it in the Email
address field.
• If you want to search for contacts configured to receive HTML or Text emails
only, select the relevant option from the Email format list.
• If you want to search for contacts who are Confirmed or Unconfirmed only,
select the relevant option from the Confirmation status list. If you want to
search for both, leave Both confirmed and unconfirmed selected (default).
• If you want to search for contacts who are Active, Bounced, or Unsubscribed,
select the relevant option from the Activity status list.
• If you want to search for contacts who subscribed Before or After a certain date,
Between two dates, or Exactly on a particular date, select Yes, filter by date
subscribed and make the relevant selection in the fields that display.
Figure 40 Searching Contacts: Filter By Date Subscribed
Select the day and month in the drop-down list boxes. Enter the year in the field
to the right. If you selected Between, configure the end date in the fields
beneath.
• If you want to search for contacts who have, or have not, clicked on a specific
link in your email campaigns, select Yes, filter by link.
Figure 41 Searching Contacts: Filter By Link
If you want to find contacts who have clicked on a link, select Has clicked in the
first list, and select the relevant link in the second list.
If you want to find contacts who have not yet clicked on a link, select Has not
clicked, and select the relevant link in the second list.
• If you want to search for contacts who have, or have not, opened a specific email,
select Yes, filter by opened email campaign.
Figure 42 Searching Contacts: Filter By Opened Email
7
8
9
10
If you want to search for contacts who have opened an email, select Has
opened in the first list, and select the email campaign in the second list.
If you want to find contacts who have not yet opened an email, select Has not
opened, and select the email campaign in the second list.
In the Visible fields section, select the fields that you want to see in the search
results list.
If the contact list contains custom fields, you can search each field in the Filter by
custom fields section.
Click Next.
The Search results screen displays, showing the contacts the fulfill the criteria you
specified. The fields in this screen are the same as those in the View contacts
screen; see Viewing and Managing Contacts.
Adding or Editing a Contact
Take the following steps to add a contact to one of your contact lists:
Note: If you want to add contacts from a file, see Importing Contacts From a File.
1 Click Contacts in the navigation bar, then click Add a contact.
Figure 43 Add a Contact: Select Contact List
2 Select the Contact list to which you want to add the contact. Click Next.
Figure 44 Add a Contact: Add Contact Details
3 Enter the contact’s details:
• Enter the contact’s Email address.
• Select an option from the Email format list. If you want the contact to receive
HTML emails, select HTML. If you want the contact to receive plain text emails,
select Text.
Note: Contacts set to receive HTML emails can also receive text emails.
• Select a Confirmation status. If you want to send a confirmation email to the
contact later, select Unconfirmed. Otherwise, select Confirmed.
4 If the contact list to which you are adding this contact has additional custom fields,
enter the required information in the Custom field details section of this screen.
5 Click Save to add the contact to the list and enter another contact’s details.
Click Save and Exit to add the contact to the list and return to the first Add a
contact screen.
Alternatively, click Cancel if you want to return to the previous screen without
saving any contact details.
Importing Contacts from a File
Take the following steps to import contact information from a CSV file to Pinpointe.
1 Click Contacts in the navigation bar, and then click Import contacts from a file.
Figure 45 Import Contacts From a File
2 Select the contact list (or lists) to which you want to import contacts in the
Contact list field.
Figure 46 Define File Parameters
3 In the Import details section, define how you want to import the contacts:
• If you intend to send confirmation emails to the contacts in the future (as part of
a double-opt-in procedure), select Unconfirmed in the Mark as confirmed list.
Otherwise, select Confirmed.
• If you want to configure imported contacts to receive plain text emails only,
select Text in the Format list. Otherwise, select HTML.
Note: HTML contacts can receive both HTML and text emails.
• When you select Yes, overwrite existing contact details, an email address that
is already stored in the contact list is overwritten if the same address appears in
the imported contact list.
• When you select Yes, add contacts to autoresponders, any autoresponders
created for this list are sent out to the imported contacts. If you deselect this
option, the imported contacts do not receive autoresponders.
If you are not sure, deselect this option.
4 In the File details section, specify how the file you want to import is configured:
• If the file you want to import contains headers (a line of information at the start
of the file that defines field names), select Yes, this file contains headers.
Note: The names of field headers should be separated by the character you specify in
the Field separator field.
• Specify the Field separator your file uses to identify where fields begin and end.
Note: In a CSV file, the field separator is usually a comma.
• If your file uses a character to enclose field's information, enter it here. If you are
not sure, leave this field blank.
5 If you want to import a file from your computer, select Upload a file from my
computer and click Browse to locate the file.
6 If you want to import a file that is already on Pinpointe server, select Import a file
from my web site and select the file.
Note: Upload the file to the server’s Admin/Import folder first.
7 Click Next.
Figure 47 Define Field Mapping
8 This screen allows you to map the fields in the imported file with fields in
Pinpointe’s contact list.
The text on the left of the screen displays the fields in the imported file. Select the
contact list field to which each field should map.
9 Click Next.
Figure 48 Start Importing Contacts
10 Click Start importing.
Figure 49 Import In Progress
When the process is complete, a screen displays with a report of the results.
Figure 50 Contact Import Report
Exporting Contacts To a File
Take the following steps to export contacts to a CSV (Comma-Separated Value) or XML
(Extensible Markup Language) file:
Note: You can export all contacts from a list (or multiple lists), or export only contacts
who match certain criteria.
1 Click Contacts in the navigation bar, then click Export contacts to a file.
Figure 51 Export Contacts To a File
2 Select a Search option:
• To create a CSV file containing all the contacts in a list, select Export all
contacts in the selected contact list.
• To create a CSV file containing only contacts who match certain criteria, select
Export specific contacts from within the selected contact list. You can select
criteria in the next screen (see step 4).
3 Select the contact list (or lists) you want to export in the Contact list field. To
search for a list, enter your search term in the field below.
4 If you selected Export specific contacts from within the selected contact list, a
screen displays allowing you to refine your criteria. See step 6 for information on
configuring the fields in this screen.
Click Next when you have finished.
Figure 52 Specify Contact File Details
5 Specify a File format:
• Choose whether to export a CSV file or an XML file.
6 If you chose CSV file, choose your Export options:
Note: This section does not display if you selected XML file in the File format section.
Note: If you are unsure what to select in this section, leave these fields at their defaults.
• Choose whether or not to Include field headers. If you include field headers, the
first line of your file specifies field headers (for example, “Email, Format,
Status”).
• Specify a Field separator character. This is the character that separates pieces
of information in the file.
• Specify a Field enclosed by character. If you enter a character in this field, the
character appears to either side of each piece of information in the file.
7 Select the information fields you want to include in the exported CSV or XML file
in the Fields to include section.
8 Click Next.
Figure 53 Start Exporting
9 Click Start exporting. Pinpointe prepares the file.
Figure 54 Exporting Contacts
When the file is ready, the following screen displays.
Figure 55 Download Contacts File
10 Click Click here to download the export file. The CSV or XML file displays in a
new browser window.
Figure 56 View Exported Contacts File
Alternatively, right-click Click here to download the export file and select Save
link as.
Figure 57 Save Exported Contacts File
Removing Contacts
Take the following steps to permanently remove a contact from Pinpointe:
Note: You can remove contacts by entering their address manually, or by uploading a
file containing the addresses of each contact you want to remove. Alternatively,
use the Contacts > View all contacts screen to delete single contacts.
Note: You can also use this procedure to mark contacts as unsubscribed; see step 4.
1 Click Contacts in the navigation bar, then click Remove contacts.
Figure 58 Remove a Contact: Choose Contact List
2 Select the contact list from which you want to remove contacts. Click Next.
Figure 59 Remove a Contact: Define Contacts
3 Define the contacts that you want to remove from the list:
• To enter the contact’s email addresses manually, select I want to type the
email addresses of contacts into a text box. Enter the addresses in the field
that displays.
Figure 60 Enter Contact Addresses Manually
• To upload a list of email addresses, select I want to upload a file that contains
the email addresses of contacts.
Note: The file that you use should contain email addresses only, one address to a line.
Figure 61 Upload List of Contacts to Remove
Enter the filepath of the file you want to use, or click Browse and locate the file.
4 Use the For the contacts above field to specify whether you want to delete the
contacts permanently, or just mark them as unsubscribed:
• If you want to delete the contacts permanently, select Remove them from my
list permanently.
• If you want to mark the contacts as unsubscribed, but keep the contact’s details,
select Mark them as unsubscribed in my list.
5 Click Next.
6 A screen displays with a report of the results. You can use this screen to delete
more contacts from the list.
Figure 62 Removed Contact Report
Viewing Suppressed Email Addresses
Suppressed email addresses are those to which email addresses are never sent, even if
the address is subscribed to a list. You can view suppressed email addresses for all
contact lists, or for a specific list.
Take the following steps to see the suppressed email addresses for a contact list:
1 Click Contacts in the navigation bar, then click Email Suppression List.
Figure 63 Email Suppression List: Choose Contact List
2 Choose the contact list for which you want to see suppressed email addresses. To
see suppressed email addresses for all lists, select Global Suppression.
Figure 64 Email Suppression List: View Suppressed Email Addresses
3 This screen displays the list of suppressed email addresses for the list or lists you
specified, as well as the date on which each address was suppressed. You can take
the following actions:
• Click Suppress an email or domain to add an entry to the email suppression list.
See Suppressing an Email Address or Domain.
• Select the checkbox next to an Email address (select the checkbox at the head
of the column to select all entries in the list) and click Delete selected to remove
the address from the list. The address is no longer suppressed. You can also
delete an address by clicking its Delete link.
• Click an address’s Edit link to edit the suppressed address’s details.
Figure 65 Edit Suppressed Email Address
Edit the address in the Email to suppress field, if required.
You can also change the list that this email should be barred from. To bar the
email address from all lists in Pinpointe, select Global suppression.
• Click Save when you have finished, or click Cancel to return to the View
suppressed emails list without saving any changes.
Suppressing an Email Address or Domain
You can bar an email address or a domain (like “exampledomain.com”, for instance)
from having emails sent to it. This is known as suppressing the email address or domain.
This takes precedence over other settings; for instance, an email address may be an
active member of a contact list, but it will never have emails or autoresponders sent to
it if it is suppressed.
Note: You can suppress email addresses and domains by entering the information
manually, or by uploading a file containing the information. Alternatively, use the
Contacts > Email suppression list screen to suppress single email addresses or
domains.
Take the following steps to suppress an email address or a domain:
1 Click Contacts in the navigation bar, then click Suppress an email or domain.
Figure 66 Suppress an Email or Domain: Select Contact List
2 Select the contact list from which you want this address or domain to be barred in
the I want to suppress contacts from list. To bar an address or domain from all
contact lists, select Global suppression.
3 Define the addresses or domains you want to suppress:
Note: To suppress a domain, enter it in the following format: “@domain.tld”, where
“domain” is the domain you want to suppress, and “.tld” is the top-level domain
(“.com”, for example).
So, to suppress all email addresses belonging to www.yahoo.co.uk (for example),
enter “@yahoo.co.uk”.
• To enter the email addresses or domains manually, select I want to type the
email addresses/domains to suppress into a text box. Enter the addresses or
domains in the field that displays.
Figure 67 Enter Addresses or Domains for Suppression Manually
• To upload a list of email addresses or domains, select I want to upload a file
that contains the email addresses/domains to suppress.
Note: The file that you use should contain email addresses or domain names only, one
address or domain name to a line.
Figure 68 Upload List of Addresses or Domains for Suppression
Enter the filepath of the file you want to use, or click Browse and locate the file.
4 A screen displays with a report of the results. You can use this screen to add more
email addresses or domains to the list.
Figure 69 Suppressed Email Address or Domain Report
Using Forms
This chapter discusses how to use the Forms menu in the navigation bar.
Figure 70 The Forms Menu
Forms Overview
Forms allow members of the public to interact with Pinpointe by signing up to contact
lists, unsubscribing from contact lists, and changing the details stored about them.
Contacts can also easily forward emails on to their friends using a form.
• The forms you use to allow people to sign up to, or unsubscribe from, contact lists
are hosted on your own website. The forms you add to your site on the Internet use
scripts to interact with Pinpointe.
• The forms you use to allow contacts to change the details stored about them on
Pinpointe or to forward an email to a friend are not hosted on your website. Instead,
you can add them to the emails you send.
The forms you add to your emails also use scripts to interact with Pinpointe.
Therefore, such forms will work correctly only when the form is able to access
Pinpointe over the Internet, and not when contacts view the emails offline.
Viewing and Managing Forms
To view and manage your forms, click Forms in the navigation bar and then click View
website forms.
Figure 71 Viewing and Managing Forms
Table 19 Viewing and Managing Forms
Create a website
form
Click this to create a new form. See Creating and Editing Forms.
Delete selected
Select one or more forms in the list and click this to remove the forms
from Pinpointe. The form or forms cannot be retrieved.
Select a box belonging to form and click Delete selected to remove the
form from Pinpointe. The form cannot be retrieved.
Select the box at the top of the column to select all form.
Form name
This displays the name of the form
Created
This displays the date on which the form was created.
Form type
This displays the function of the form (Subscription, Unsubscribe,
Modify details or Send to Friend). See Creating and Editing Forms for
more information on the types of form available.
Action
• Click View to see what the form looks like in a new browser window.
• Click Get HTML to see the form’s HTML code.
Note: This feature is not available for Modify details and Send to friend
forms.
• Click Edit to change the form’s configuration. See Creating and
Editing Forms for information on the screens that display.
• Click Copy to create a new copy of the form. The new form displays in
the list, with “Copy of” appended to the original name.
• Click Delete to remove the form from Pinpointe. The form cannot be
retrieved.
Creating and Editing Forms
You can create various types of forms in Pinpointe:
• Subscription: lets contacts sign up for your emails. See Creating or Editing a
Subscription Form.
• Unsubscribe: lets contacts unsubscribe from your list, and stop receiving emails.
This has the same effect as the unsubscribe link you can add to your emails. See
Creating or Editing an Unsubscribe Form.
• Modify details: lets contacts change the information recorded about them in your
contact list. See Creating or Editing a Modify Details Form.
• Send to friend: lets contacts forward an email to another person. See Creating or
Editing a Send to Friend Form.
Creating or Editing a Subscription Form
Figure 72 Example Subscription Form
Take the following steps to set up or edit a Subscription website form. See the
corresponding sections for information on how to complete each step.
1 Click Forms in the navigation bar, then Create a website form.
2 Select Subscription in the Choose a form type field. Configure the other basic
form settings (form name, form design and format, CAPTCHA security, and the
contact list - or lists - for the form). See Configuring Basic Form Settings.
Note: The options in steps 3 and 4 are available only when you select the corresponding
options in step 2.
3 Design the confirmation page (a page that displays when contacts have filled in
their details, requiring that they click another link to be added to the list) and the
confirmation email (an email sent to contacts requiring that they click a link to be
added to the list). See Designing a Confirmation Page and Email.
4 Design the thank-you page (the page that displays once contacts have been
successfully added to the list) and the thank-you email (an email sent to contacts
once they have been successfully added to the list). See Designing a Thank-You
Page and Email.
5 Design the error page (a page that displays if an error occurs in the sign-up
process). See Designing an Error Page.
6 Add the form to your website. See Adding a Form to Your Website.
Creating or Editing an Unsubscribe Form
Figure 73 Example Unsubscribe Form
Take the following steps to set up or edit an Unsubscribe website form. See the
corresponding sections for information on how to complete each step.
1 Click Forms in the navigation bar, then Create a website form.
2 Select Unsubscribe in the Choose a form type field. Configure the other basic
form settings (form name, form design, and the contact list - or lists - for the form).
See Configuring Basic Form Settings.
3 Design the confirmation page (a page that displays when contacts have filled in
their details, requiring that they click another link to be removed from the list) and
the confirmation email (an email sent to contacts requiring that they click a link to
be removed from the list). See Designing a Confirmation Page and Email.
4 Design the thank-you page (the page that displays once contacts have been
successfully removed from the list) and the thank-you email (an email sent to
contacts once they have been successfully removed from the list). See Designing a
Thank-You Page and Email.
5 Design the error page (a page that displays if an error occurs in the unsubscription
process). See Designing an Error Page.
6 Add the form to your website. See Adding a Form to Your Website.
Creating or Editing a Modify Details Form
Figure 74 Example Modify Details Form
Take the following steps to set up or edit a Modify details form. See the corresponding
sections for information on how to complete each step.
1 Click Forms in the navigation bar, then Create a website form.
2 Select Modify Details in the Choose a form type field. Configure the other basic
form settings (form name, form design and format, CAPTCHA security, and the
contact list - or lists - for the form). See Configuring Basic Form Settings.
3 Design the thank-you page (the page that displays once contacts have successfully
modified their details) and the thank-you email (an email sent to contacts once
they have been successfully modified their details). See Designing a Thank-You
Page and Email.
4 Design the error page (a page that displays if an error occurs in the modification
process). See Designing an Error Page.
5 Include a link to the form in your emails or autoresponders using the
corresponding custom field.
When you are editing a template, email or autoresponder, click the Custom fields
button. Then, select Modify details forms. Select the name of the form from the
list that displays.
Note: You cannot add modify details forms to your website. Use the custom field link
to add them to your emails instead.
Creating or Editing a Send to Friend Form
Figure 75 Example Send to Friend Form
Take the following steps to set up or edit a Send to friend form. See the corresponding
sections for information on how to complete each step.
1 Click Forms in the navigation bar, then Create a website form.
2 Select Send to Friend in the Choose a form type field. Configure the form design.
See Configuring Basic Form Settings.
3 Design the thank-you page (the page that displays once contacts have successfully
forwarded the email). See Designing a Thank-You Page and Email.
4 Design the forwarded email headers (the HTML and text headers that display
above the forwarded email, identifying the sender by whom it was forwarded).
See Configuring Forwarded Email Headers.
5 Design the error page (a page that displays if an error occurs in the sending
process). See Designing an Error Page.
6 Include a link to the form in your emails or autoresponders using the
corresponding custom field.
When you are editing a template, email or autoresponder, click the Custom fields
button. Then, select Send to friend forms. Select the name of the form from the
list that displays.
Note: You cannot add send to friend forms to your website. Use the custom field link
to add them to your emails instead.
Configuring Basic Form Settings
Use this screen to configure basic form settings such as form name and type, form
design, and the contact list (or lists) with which the form is associated.
Note: The fields that display in this screen depend on the selection you made in the
previous screen.
Figure 76 Configuring Basic Form Settings
Table 20 Configuring Basic Form Settings
Form name and type
Choose a form
type
Select the type of form you want to create. See Creating and Editing
Forms.
Name this form
Enter a name for this form. This name identifies the form in Pinpointe.
Use double opt-in
confirmation
Select this if you want to send an email to contacts in which they must
click a link to confirm that they want to subscribe to this list.
Deselect this if you do not want to send such an email.
Send a “thank
you” email
Select this if you want to send an email to contacts once they have
successfully subscribed to the list.
Deselect this if you do not want to send such an email.
Email new contact Select this if you want to receive the information that a contact enters by
details to you
email.
Deselect this if you do not want to receive such emails.
Note: You can use this feature to turn a website form into a contact form;
a contact can use it to send you information or queries directly.
Usually, a contact who is already subscribed to a list and tries to
subscribe again is directed to the error page (see Designing an Error
Page). However, since a contact may want to send information to
you on more than one occasion, contacts who complete a form with
this feature configured directed to the thank-you page, and not the
error page.
Advanced options
Choose form
design
This controls the text and background design of the form. Select a design
from the list.
Click Preview this design to see how the form will look.
Note: You need to configure a name for the form (in the Name this form
field) and select a contact list and custom fields (in the Choose
contact lists section) before you can preview the design.
Email campaign
format
• Select Allow contact to choose to let contacts who sign up using this
form choose whether to receive HTML or plain-text emails.
• Select HTML to send HTML emails to contacts who sign up using this
form.
• Select Text to send plain-text emails to contacts who sign up using
this form.
Change format
Select this to allow contacts to change the format of the emails they
receive (from HTML to text, or from text to HTML).
Deselect this if you do not want to allow contacts to change the format of
the emails they receive.
Note: This field displays only when you select Modify details in the
Choose a form type field.
Use CAPTCHA
form security
Select this if you want to use a CAPTCHA field in your form. CAPTCHA
security presents the user with an image of numerals and text, arranged
in a manner unreadable by machines. The user must enter the numerals
and text in a nearby field.
Use CAPTCHA if you want to prevent automated software signing up to
your lists, which could degrade service for real contacts and make the
information in your contact lists unreliable.
Deselect this if you do not want to use CAPTCHA security.
Note: CAPTCHA stands for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to
tell Computers and Humans Apart”. A Turing test, named after
mathematician and cryptographer Alan Turing, is a test intended to
differentiate between an intelligent agent (such as a human), and
an unintelligent agent (such as a piece of pre-programmed
software). Ideally, only intelligent agents can pass a Turing test.
Choose contact lists
Contact
lists/custom fields
Select the contact lists you want to associate with this form.
• If you selected Subscription in the Choose a form type field, contacts
are added to the list or lists you select.
• If you selected Unsubscribe in the Choose a form type field, contacts
are removed from the list or lists you select.
• If you selected Modify details in the Choose a form type field,
contacts from the lists you select may modify their details.
If a contact list is associated with one or more custom fields, the fields
display when you select the list. Select the fields you want to display in
this form.
If you choose multiple lists, List options displays. Use this to allow users
to choose the list (or lists) to which they want to be added.
Note: If a custom field is mandatory, make sure you include it in your
form.
Change field order Use this section to change the order in which the fields display in your
(drag & drop)
form. Simply click and drag a field to its new location.
Next
Click this to proceed to the next screen. The next screen depends on the
option you selected in the Choose a form type field.
Cancel
Click this to return to the View website forms screen.
Designing a Confirmation Page and Email
Use this screen to configure a page in which contacts must confirm they want to receive
emails, and an email in which contacts must click a link to confirm they want to receive
emails.
Note: The fields that display in this screen depend on the type of form you are creating.
Not all fields display for all form types.
Figure 77 Designing a Confirmation Page and Email
Table 21 Designing a Confirmation Page and Email
Form display options
Let me customize
what the page
looks like
Select this option to design the confirmation page in the WYSIWYG
editor that displays. See Using the HTML Editor for information.
Take the
subscriber to an
existing website
address
Select this option to redirect the user to another page on the Internet.
Enter the page’s full URL in the field that displays (for example,
“http://www.someite.com/somepage.html”)
Confirmation email options
Send from this
name
This is the name of the person from which the confirmation email will be
sent.
This displays the default “from” name for the contact list you selected. If
you want to change this name, enter the new name in this field.
Send from this
email address
This is the email address from which the confirmation email will be sent.
This displays the default “from” email account for the contact list you
selected. If you want to use a different email account, enter the new
address in this field.
Send reply emails
to
This is the name of the person from which the confirmation email will be
sent. If a contact replies to your confirmation email, this is the address to
which the reply is sent.
This displays the default reply email address for this contact list. If you
want to use a different address, enter the new address in this field.
Email subject
Enter the subject line for the confirmation email.
Confirmation
email (HTML)
Design the HTML version of the confirmation email in this section. See
Using the HTML Editor for information.
Confirmation
email (text)
Design the plain-text version of the confirmation email in this section.
See Using the Text Editor for information.
Next
Click this to proceed to the next screen. The next screen depends on the
option you selected in the Configuring basic form settings screen.
Cancel
Click this to return to the View website forms screen.
Designing a Thank-You Page and Email
Use this screen to configure a page informing contacts that the subscription (or
unsubscription, modification, or forwarding) process is complete, and an email in which
the same information is conveyed.
Note: The fields that display in this screen depend on the type of form you are creating.
Not all fields display for all form types.
Figure 78 Designing a Thank-You Page and Email
Note: If you are creating a Send to friend form, the Thanks email options do not
display; the Configuring forwarded email headers section displays. See
Configuring Forwarded Email Headers.
Table 22 Designing a Thank-You Page and Email
Thank you page options
Let me customize
what the page
looks like
Select this option to design the thank-you page in the WYSIWYG editor
that displays. See Using the HTML Editor for information.
Take the
subscriber to an
existing website
address
Select this option to redirect the user to another page on the Internet.
Enter the page’s full URL in the field that displays (for example,
“http://www.someite.com/somepage.html”)
Thanks email options
Send from this
name
This is the name of the person from which the thank-you email will be
sent.
This displays the default “from” name for the contact list you selected. If
you want to change this name, enter the new name in this field.
Send from this
email address
This is the email address from which the thank-you email will be sent.
This displays the default “from” email account for the contact list you
selected. If you want to use a different email account, enter the new
address in this field.
Send reply emails
to
This is the name of the person from which the thank-you email will be
sent. If a contact replies to your thank-you email, this is the address to
which the reply is sent.
This displays the default reply email address for this contact list. If you
want to use a different address, enter the new address in this field.
Send bounced
email to
This is the address to which undeliverable emails are sent.
This displays the default bounced email address for this contact list. If you
want to use a different address for handling bounced emails, enter the
new address in this field.
Email subject
Enter the subject line for the thank-you email.
Confirmation
email (HTML)
Design the HTML version of the thank-you email in this section. See
Using the HTML Editor for information.
Confirmation
email (text)
Design the plain-text version of the thank-you email in this section. See
Using the Text Editor for information.
Next
Click this to proceed to the next screen. The next screen depends on the
option you selected in the Configuring basic form settings screen.
Cancel
Click this to return to the View website forms screen.
Configuring Forwarded Email Headers
When you select Send to friend in the Configuring basic form settings screen, use this
screen to configure the headings that display above the forwarded HTML and text
emails, identifying the sender by whom it was forwarded.
Note: This section displays beneath the Thank you page options. See Designing a
Thank-You Page and Email.
Figure 79 Designing Forwarded Email Headers
Table 23 Designing Forwarded Email Headers
Email header
(HTML)
Design the HTML header in the WYSIWYG editor that displays. See Using
the HTML Editor for information.
Note: The %%REFERRER_EMAIL%% variable places the email address
of the contact who forwarded the email into the HTML header.
Email header
(text)
Enter the text that displays in the plain-text header.
Note: The %%REFERRER_EMAIL%% variable places the email address
of the contact who forwarded the email into the HTML header.
Next
Click this to proceed to the next screen. The next screen depends on the
option you selected in the Configuring basic form settings screen.
Cancel
Click this to return to the View website forms screen.
Designing an Error Page
Use this screen to configure a page that displays if there is an error in the subscription
(or unsubscription, modification, or forwarding) process.
Figure 80 Designing an Error Page
Table 24 Designing an Error Page
Let me customize
what the page
looks like
Select this option to design the error page in the WYSIWYG editor that
displays. See Using the HTML Editor for information.
Take the
subscriber to an
existing website
Select this option to redirect the user to another page on the Internet.
Enter the page’s full URL in the field that displays (for example,
“http://www.someite.com/somepage.html”)
address
Save
Click this to save the changes to your form and continue to the Add the
form to your website screen.
Cancel
Click this to return to the View website forms screen.
Adding a Form to Your Website
Take the following steps to add a form you already created to your website.
1 In your web development application (for example, Adobe Dreamweaver), open
the web page into which you want to add the form.
2 In Pinpointe, go to the Add the form to your website screen. This screen displays
after the Designing an error page screen. Either create a new form, or edit and
existing form and click Next until you reach this page.
Figure 81 Adding a Form to Your Website
3 Select the code in the Website from HTML code section, and copy it (CTRL-C).
Note: Bear in mind the warning included at the top of the HTML: “Do not modify the
NAME value of any of the INPUT fields, the FORM action, or any of the hidden
fields (e.g. input type=hidden). These are all required for this form to function
correctly.”
4 In your web development application’s HTML code editing window, paste (CTRL-V)
the code into the required location.
Note: If your web development application requires that you copy files from Pinpointe,
do so.
Figure 82 Paste HTML into Web Development Application
5 Check, align and modify the form in your web development application’s
WYSIWYG or text editor.
Note: When you edit the form, remember that its styles are defined in the form code
and are not inherited from your page or CSS. If you want to change the
appearance of text, modify the form code (bearing in mind the earlier warning
against modifying other aspects of the form).
Figure 83 Edit Form in Your Web Development Application
6 Test the page into which you placed the form in a web browser.
Figure 84 Pinpointe Subscription Form in a Web Page
7 With access to the Internet, test the form:
• Make sure that you are able to sign up to the list (and that the correct
confirmation or thank-you screen displays) by entering the required information,
using an email address to which you have access. If you chose double-opt-in
confirmation, test that the link in the email you receive works correctly.
• When you attempt to sign up to the list, but do not include a required field, a
warning should display. Make sure that required fields are actually required by
attempting to sign up without entering one of the required fields. Repeat the
test for all required fields.
• Force an error (by entering an incorrect CAPTCHA security code, for example) to
ensure that the error page displays correctly.
8 When you are happy with the form’s appearance and operation, upload the page
to your website.
Using Email Campaigns
This chapter describes the Email campaigns menu in the navigation bar.
Figure 85 The Email Campaigns Menu
Email Campaigns Overview
Email campaigns are the emails you send out to your contacts.
Each email campaign you plan, create, and send out transmits an email, based on an
HTML or plain-text template (or both), to each of the addresses stored in the contact
list you select (see Using Contact Lists).
Archiving Email Campaigns
When you archive email campaigns, all emails sent to a contact list are available on the
Internet, and can be viewed by campaign recipients in the contact list. In order to set
this up, you must archive the email campaigns (click the Archive field in the View email
campaigns screen, or use the Create an email campaign screen; see Creating and
Editing Email Campaigns). You must also include a link to the archive (using the
%%mailinglistarchive%% variable) in the email campaigns you send to the contact list.
Activating Email Campaigns
Only email campaigns that are activated may be sent. This means that an administrator
can assign specific permissions to different users that allow one user to design a
campaign, and another to authorize it.
Viewing and Managing Email Campaigns
To view an existing email campaign you already created, click Email campaigns in the
navigation bar, then click View email campaigns. This screen allows you to view and
manage all email campaigns you have created in the past (whether you already sent
them or not).
You can:
• Create an email campaign: build a new email campaign. See Creating and Editing
Email Campaigns.
• Delete: remove the campaign (or campaigns) from Pinpointe. The campaign cannot
be retrieved.
• Archive: turn on automatic archiving of the campaign on Pinpointe’s server.
• Unarchive: turn off automatic archiving of the campaign on Pinpointe’s server.
• Activate: allow the campaign to be sent (give your permission).
• Deactivate: forbid the campaign from being sent (deny your permission).
You can also view, send, edit, copy and delete email campaigns.
Figure 86 Viewing Email Campaigns
Table 25 Viewing Email Campaigns
Create an email
campaign
Click this to begin building a new email campaign. See Creating and
Editing Email Campaigns for more information.
Choose an action
Select one or more email campaigns, select an option from the list and
click Go to perform the selected action.
Select a box belonging to an email campaign before choosing an option
from the Choose an action list.
Select the box at the top of the column to select all campaigns.
Name
This displays the name of the email campaign.
Subject
This displays the subject of the email campaign. This is the text that
displays in the email’s subject line.
Created
This displays the date on which you created the email campaign.
Last sent
This displays the date on which you last sent the email campaign.
If you have not yet sent the email campaign, Not sent displays.
Email format
This displays the format of the email campaign.
• If the campaign is configured to send HTML emails only, HTML
displays.
• If the campaign is configured to send plain text emails only,
Text displays.
• If the campaign is configured to send both HTML emails and
plain text emails, HTML and text displays.
Active
A
A
icon displays if the email campaign may be sent.
icon displays if the email campaign may not be sent.
Archive
A
icon displays if the email campaign is automatically archived on
Pinpointe server.
A
icon displays if the email campaign is not automatically archived on
Pinpointe server.
Action
• Click View to see a full-screen preview of the email campaign.
• Click Send to select a contact list and send the campaign to the
contacts in the list. The screens that display are similar to the Send an
email campaign screens (see Sending Email Campaigns).
• Click Edit to update the campaign. The screens that display are similar
to the Create an email campaign screens (see Creating and Editing
Email Campaigns).
• Click Copy to create a new copy of the campaign. The new campaign
displays, with “Copy of” appended to the original name.
• Click Delete to remove the campaign from Pinpointe.
Creating and Editing Email Campaigns
Pinpointe’s email campaigns are usually based on templates (see Using Templates).
You can take a template and customize it for use in your campaign; replacing its text
with your own, adding or removing sections and images, and modifying its formatting if
required.
Alternatively, you can create a new email campaign without using a template. If you
choose to do this, you can build the campaign yourself using the text or HTML editor, or
import an HTML file from your computer or a web page.
Take the following steps to create a custom email campaign:
1 Click Email campaigns in the navigation bar and select Create an email campaign.
Figure 87 Create an Email Campaign
2 Enter a new Email Campaign Name.
3 Select the type of campaign you want to create.
• Select HTML and Text if you want emails to be sent with both HTML and plain
text elements (multipart). Email clients that can display HTML messages use the
HTML element, and clients that cannot display HTML use the plain text element.
• Select Text if you want emails you send to be sent in plain text only.
• Select HTML if you want emails you send to be sent in HTML only. If you select
this option, your emails will not display in email clients that cannot display
HTML messages.
4 If you want to base this email campaign on an existing template, select the
template in the Email template list. A preview of the template displays.
If you do not want to base this campaign on an existing template, select No
template in the Email template list.
5 Click Next.
Figure 88 The Email Campaign Editor
Note: If you selected Text only in the previous page, the HTML Content section in this
page does not display. Likewise, if you selected HTML only, the Text Content
section in this page does not display.
6 Specify how you want to build the HTML email.
• If you want to use the built-in WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor
in this page, select Create content using the WYSIWYG editor below.
• If you want to use an HTML file on your computer, select Upload a file from my
computer. Click the Browse button that displays. A file upload window displays;
locate and select the file you want to use and click OK. Click Upload. The HTML
editor screen updates to show the new file.
• If you want to use a file from a page on the Internet, select Import a file from a
web site and enter the full URL (for example,
“http://www.examplesite.com/examplepage.html”) in the field that displays.
Click Import. The HTML editor screen updates to show the new file.
7 Customize the HTML email using the editor. See Using the HTML Editor for more
information.
8 Customize the text email using the editor. See Using the Text Editor for more
information.
9 Check that your email campaign will not be marked as spam by a recipient's email
client. Click Check your email for spam.
Note: This checks the text in your email campaign against a list of known spam
keywords. However, it cannot guarantee that your campaign will be delivered to
all recipients.
Figure 89 Check Your Email for Spam
10
11
12
13
If either the HTML or text versions of your email break any rules, take note of the
offending text and edit the email campaign to not include the term.
Click the icon to close the Check your email for spam window.
Check that your campaign displays correctly in a variety of common email clients.
Click View your email in different email programs. The Email Validation screen
displays in a new window (see Validating an Email). When you have finished, close
the window.
Configure the Miscellaneous options.
• Select Yes, this email campaign is active if you want the template to be
available for use once you have saved it. Otherwise, deselect this option. You
can activate the template later.
• Select Yes, archive this email campaign if you want to place the campaign in
the archive for the selected contact list. Contacts in the list can see all emails
sent to the list in the past (if you provide them with a link to do so).
If you want to test the campaign by sending it to your own email address:
• Enter the email address from which you want to send the test email in the Send
preview from this email field.
• Enter the email address to which you want to send the test email in the Send
preview to this email field.
• To send the test email, click Preview your email campaign. Check the inbox of
the account you entered in the Send Preview to this Email field.
Finish the campaign.
• Click Save & keep editing to save the new campaign and remain in this screen
to make further changes.
• Click Save and exit to save the new campaign and go to the View Custom
Templates screen (see Managing Custom Email Templates).
• Click Cancel to return to the View Custom Templates screen without saving the
template. Any changes you made are lost.
Sending Email Campaigns
Take the following steps to send an existing email campaign:
1 Click Email campaigns in the navigation bar, then select Send email campaign.
Figure 90 Send an Email Campaign
2 Select the contacts to whom you want to send the campaign in the I want to
section:
• To send the campaign to the entire list you select in the Contact list field, select
Send an email to all contacts in the selected list(s) below.
• To perform a search (see step 5), and send the campaign to only the contacts
matching the search, select Send an email to contacts who match my search
criteria in the selected list(s) below.
• To send the campaign to the entire list you select in the Segments field, select
Send an email to all contacts in the selected segment(s) below.
3 Select the contact list(s) or segment(s) to which you want to send the email
campaign. Use the search box below the list to search for contact lists or segments.
4 Click Next.
5 If you opted to perform a search for the contacts to whom you want to send the
campaign, the following screen displays. If you did not opt to perform a search,
skip to step 6.
Figure 91 Send an Email Campaign: Search Contacts
The fields that display in this screen are the same as those in the Contacts >
Search contacts screen. See Searching Contacts for more information. Click Next.
6 Use this screen to configure your campaign settings.
Figure 92 Send an Email Campaign: Campaign Settings
Table 26 Send an Email Campaign: Campaign Settings
Email campaign settings
Send this email
campaign
Select the email campaign that you want to send from the list. Click
Preview to see the campaign in a new browser window.
Send from this
name
This displays the default “from” name for the contact list you selected. If
you want to change this name, enter the new name in this field.
Send from this
email address
This displays the default “from” email account for the contact list you
selected. If you want to use a different email account, enter the new
address in this field.
Send reply emails
to
This displays the default reply email address for this contact list. When a
contact replies to your email campaign, this is the address to which the
reply is sent. If you want to use a different address, enter the new address
in this field.
Send bounced
emails to
This displays the default bounced email address for this contact list. This
is the address to which undeliverable emails are sent. If you want to use a
different address for handling bounced emails, enter the new address in
this field.
Email scheduling settings
Send your
campaign now?
Select this if you want to send the email campaign immediately.
Deselect this to schedule a date and time to send the email.
Figure 93 Schedule Email Campaign
Select the date, month and year in the first three lists, and select the
hour, minute and AM/PM in the last three lists.
Notify owner
about sending?
Select this if you want to send an email to the list owner when a
scheduled campaign starts sending, and another when it finishes sending.
Advanced settings (optional)
My “first name”
custom field is
If your email campaign uses a custom field to define a recipient’s first
name, select it here.
If your email campaign uses a single field to define a recipient’s name,
select it in this field.
My “last name”
custom field is
If your email campaign uses a custom field to define a recipient’s last
name, select it here.
If your email campaign uses a single field to define a recipient’s name,
leave this field blank.
Send your email
as multipart?
Select this to send both HTML and text elements of a multipart email
campaign to recipients. This allows a recipient’s email client to choose the
correct display method.
Note: Use this option if you are unsure. Also, use this option if you don’t
provide your recipients with the ability to choose HTML or text
emails.
Track open rates
for HTML emails?
Select this to have Pinpointe track the proportion of HTML emails opened
by their recipients.
Track links clicked
in this email
Select this to have Pinpointe track the proportion of links in this email
campaign that are clicked on by the recipient.
You can view the results of clicked links in the Stats > Email campaign
statistics.
Yes, track my
campaign using
Google Analytics
Select this to have Pinpointe use Google Analytics to track your
campaign’s links.
Figure 94 Use Google Analytics
• Enter the name you want Google Analytics to use for this campaign in
the Use this campaign name field.
• Enter the name you want to use as the source of traffic for this
campaign in the Use this source name field.
Embed images as
attachments
Select this to embed the images you send in HTML emails, rather than
linking to them. This allows recipients to view the email campaign offline,
but can increase the email size significantly.
7 Click Next when you have finished configuring this screen. Alternatively, click
Cancel to return to the View email campaigns screen without saving your
changes.
Figure 95 Send an Email Campaign: Report
8 A screen displays, showing a report of the email campaign you are about to send.
Review the information and click Schedule my Email Campaign to continue.
Alternatively, click Cancel to return to the View email campaigns screen without
saving your changes.
Note: If you configured the campaign to be sent immediately (in the previous screen’s
Send your email campaign now? field) the report screen displays the current
date and time. When you click Schedule my email campaign, the campaign is
sent immediately.
Figure 96 Send an Email Campaign: Scheduled
9 In the screen that displays, you can see all scheduled campaigns. Note that any
campaigns scheduled for immediate sending will be sent when the cron job
counter reaches zero.
See Viewing Scheduled Email Campaigns for more information on this screen.
Viewing Scheduled Email Campaigns
To view details about the email campaigns that are scheduled to be sent, click Email
campaigns, then click View scheduled email queue.
You can:
• Send an email campaign: build a new email campaign. See Sending Email
Campaigns.
• Delete: remove the campaign (or campaigns) from Pinpointe. The campaign cannot
be retrieved.
You can also View, Pause or Edit a campaign.
Figure 97 View Scheduled Email Campaigns
Table 27 View Scheduled Email Campaigns
Send an email
campaign
Click this to send a new email campaign. See Sending Email Campaigns
for more information.
Delete selected
Select one or more email campaigns and click this to delete the selected
campaign (or campaigns).
Select a box belonging to an email campaign before clicking the Delete
selected button.
Select the box at the top of the column to select all campaigns.
Email campaign
name
This displays the name of the email campaign scheduled for sending.
Email subject
This displays the subject line of the email campaign.
Contact list
This displays the contact list to which the email campaign is scheduled to
be sent.
Date scheduled
This displays the date and time at which the email campaign is scheduled
to be sent.
Activity status
• For email campaigns scheduled to be sent at a specific time in the
future, a timer displays that counts down to the time at which the
campaign will be sent.
• Waiting to send displays if the email campaign is scheduled for
immediate sending, but is yet to be sent. The campaign will be sent
when the cron job runs.
• Paused displays when the email campaign has been temporarily
stopped.
• Complete displays when the email campaign has finished sending.
Action
• Click View to see a preview of the email campaign in a new browser
window.
• Click Pause to temporarily stop a campaign that is running.
• Click Resume to start a campaign that has been temporarily stopped.
• Click Edit to change the settings of an email campaign. See Creating
and Editing Email Campaigns for more information.
• Click Delete to remove the campaign (or campaigns) from Pinpointe.
The campaign cannot be retrieved.
Using Autoresponders
This chapter discusses how to use the Autoresponders menu in the navigation bar.
Figure 98 The Autoresponders Menu
Autoresponders Overview
Autoresponders are emails sent out automatically by Pinpointe in response to actions
taken by a contact (signing up for a newsletter, for example).
You can set up autoresponders to be sent out at specific times after the contact has
been added to the contact list.
You can also configure an autoresponder to be sent to only the contacts in the list that
match the search criteria you specify.
Viewing Autoresponders
Take the following steps to view details about an autoresponder you already created.
1 Click Autoresponders in the navigation bar, then click View autoresponders.
Figure 99 View Autoresponders: Choose Contact List
2 This screen displays a list of contact lists, the number of contacts belonging to the
list, and the number of autoresponders associated with each list. Select a contact
list and click Next.
Figure 100 View Autoresponders: Manage Autoresponders
3 This screen allows you to:
• Create an autoresponder:
• Delete the selected autoresponder(s): remove the autoresponder (or
autoresponders) from Pinpointe. The autoresponder cannot be retrieved.
• Activate the selected autoresponder(s): when activated, an autoresponder will
be sent to contacts at the specified time.
• Deactivate the selected autoresponder(s): when deactivated, an
autoresponder will not be sent to contacts.
You can also View, Edit and Copy autoresponders.
Table 28 View Autoresponders
Create an
autoresponder
Click this to go to the Create an autoresponder screen. See Creating and
Editing Autoresponders for more information.
Choose an action
Select one or more autoresponders, select an option from the list and
click Go to perform the selected action.
Select a box belonging to an autoresponder before choosing an option
from the Choose an action list.
Select the box at the top of the column to select all autoresponders.
Name this
autoresponder
This displays the name of the autoresponder.
Created
This displays the date on which the autoresponder was created.
Sent
This displays the time that the autoresponder is sent after a contact signs
up.
Email format
• Text displays if this autoresponder is sent in plain text only.
• HTML displays if autoresponders are sent in HTML only.
• HTML and Text displays if autoresponders are sent in multipart form.
Note: Multipart emails have both an HTML element and a plain text
element. Plain text displays if a user’s email client cannot display
HTML.
Action
• Click View to see a full-screen version of the autoresponder.
• Click Edit to update the autoresponder. The screens that display are
similar to the Create an Autoresponder screens (see Creating and
Editing Autoresponders).
• Click Copy to create a new copy of the autoresponder. The new
autoresponder displays, with “Copy of” appended to the original
name.
• Click Delete to remove the autoresponder from Pinpointe. The
autoresponder cannot be retrieved.
Creating and Editing Autoresponders
Pinpointe allows you to create autoresponders using the built-in editor.
Note: If you want to create a new autoresponder based on an autoresponder you
created previously, use the Autoresponders > View autoresponders screen to
copy the template, then edit the new template. See Viewing Autoresponders.
To edit an autoresponder, click its Edit link in the Autoresponders > View
autoresponders screen.
Take the following steps to create an autoresponder:
1 Click Autoresponders in the navigation bar and select Create an autoresponder.
Figure 101 Create an Autoresponder: Select a Contact List
2 Select the contact list for this autoresponder and click Next.
Figure 102 Create an Autoresponder: Name and Search
3 Enter a name for the autoresponder in the Name this autoresponder field.
4 If you want to send this autoresponder to all contacts who sign up and
subsequently confirm that they want to receive emails, select All contacts in my
list with a status of “confirmed”.
Alternatively, you can send this autoresponder to certain contacts only. Select
Only contacts who match my search criteria (below). The following fields display.
Figure 103 Autoresponder Filter Options
Configure the Filter by basic details fields:
• If you want to send this autoresponder only to contacts with a certain type of
email address (for example, all contacts at hotmail.com), enter all or part of the
email address in the Email address field.
• If you want to send this autoresponder only to contacts configured to receive
HTML or Text emails only, select the relevant option from the Match format
list.
• If you want to send this autoresponder only to contacts who are Confirmed or
Unconfirmed only, select the relevant option from the Match confirmed status
list. If you want to search for both, leave Both confirmed and unconfirmed
selected (default).
• If you want to send this autoresponder only to contacts who have, or have not,
clicked on a specific link in your autoresponder, select Yes, filter by link.
Figure 104 Autoresponder: Filter By Link
If you want to send this autoresponder only to contacts who have clicked on a
link, select Has clicked in the first list, and select the relevant link in the second
list.
If you want to send this autoresponder only to contacts who have not yet clicked
on a link, select Has not clicked, and select the relevant link in the second list.
• If you want to send this autoresponder only to contacts who have, or have not,
opened a specific email, select Yes, filter by opened email campaign.
Figure 105 Autoresponder: Filter By Opened Email
If you want to search for contacts who have opened an email, select Has
opened in the first list, and select the email campaign in the second list.
If you want to find contacts who have not yet opened an email, select Has not
opened, and select the email campaign in the second list.
5 If the contact list contains custom fields, you can search each field in the Filter by
custom fields section.
6 Click Next.
Figure 106 Autoresponder: Sending Options
Table 29 Autoresponder: Sending Options
Autoresponder details
Send from this
name
This displays the default “from” name for the contact list you selected. If
you want to change this name, enter the new name in this field.
Send from this
email address
This displays the default “from” email account for the contact list you
selected. If you want to use a different email account, enter the new
address in this field.
Send reply emails
to
This displays the default reply email address for this contact list. When a
contact replies to your autoresponder, this is the address to which the
reply is sent. If you want to use a different address, enter the new address
in this field.
Send bounced
emails to
This displays the default bounced email address for this contact list. This
is the address to which undeliverable emails are sent. If you want to use a
different address for handling bounced emails, enter the new address in
this field.
Email format
• Select HTML and Text if you want this autoresponder to be sent with
both HTML and plain text elements (multipart). Email clients that can
display HTML messages use the HTML element, and clients that
cannot display HTML use the plain text element.
• Select Text if you want this autoresponder to be sent in plain text
only.
• Select HTML if you want this autoresponder to be sent in HTML only.
If you select this option, your emails will not display in email clients
that cannot display HTML messages.
My “first name”
custom field is
If your autoresponder uses a custom field to define a recipient’s first
name, select it here.
If your autoresponder uses a single field to define a recipient’s name,
select it in this field.
My “last name”
custom field is
If your autoresponder uses a custom field to define a recipient’s last
name, select it here.
If your autoresponder uses a single field to define a recipient’s name,
leave this field blank.
Send to existing
contacts
Select this to send the autoresponder to contacts who already belong to
the contact list.
For example, if you set up an autoresponder to send ninety days after a
contact was added to the list, contacts who were added to the list fewer
than ninety days ago will receive the autoresponder on the relevant date.
Sending options
Send this
autoresponder
Select As soon as the contact joins my list to send the autoresponder to
contacts immediately when they join the list.
Select After the contact has been on my list for to send the
autoresponder a specific number of hours, days, weeks, months or years
after the contact has joined the list. Enter the time in the fields that
display.
Advanced options
Send your email
as multipart?
Select this to send both HTML and text elements of a multipart
autoresponder to recipients. This allows a recipient’s email client to
choose the correct display method.
Note: Use this option if you are unsure. Also, use this option if you don’t
provide your recipients with the ability to choose HTML or text
emails.
Track open rates
for html emails?
Select this to have Pinpointe track the proportion of HTML
autoresponders opened by their recipients.
Track links clicked
in this email?
Select this to have Pinpointe track the proportion of links in this
autoresponder that are clicked on by the recipient.
You can view the results of clicked links in the Stats > Autoresponder
statistics.
Embed images as
attachments?
Select this to embed the images you send in HTML emails, rather than
linking to them. This allows recipients to view the autoresponder offline,
but can increase the email size significantly.
Autoresponder content
I want to
• Select Create the content of my autoresponder from scratch if you
do not want to base this autoresponder on an existing template.
• Select Use a template as the basis of my autoresponder if you want
to base this autoresponder on an existing template.
Figure 107 Autoresponder: Select a Template
Select the template upon which you want to base this autoresponder.
7 Click Next. The autoresponder editor displays.
Figure 108 The Autoresponder Editor
Note: If you selected Text only in the previous page, the HTML Content section in this
page does not display. Likewise, if you selected HTML only, the Text Content
section in this page does not display.
8 Specify how you want to build the HTML autoresponder.
• If you want to use the built-in WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor
in this page, select Create content using the WYSIWYG editor below.
• If you want to use an HTML file on your computer, select Upload a file from my
computer. Click the Browse button that displays. A file upload window displays;
locate and select the file you want to use and click OK. Click Upload. The HTML
editor screen updates to show the new file.
• If you want to use a file from a page on the Internet, select Import a file from a
web site and enter the full URL (for example,
“http://www.examplesite.com/examplepage.html”) in the field that displays.
Click Import. The HTML editor screen updates to show the new file.
9 Customize the HTML email using the editor. See Using the HTML Editor for more
information.
10Customize the text email using the editor. See Using the Text Editor for more
information.
11Check that your autoresponder will not be marked as spam by a recipient's email
client. Click Check your email for spam.
Note: This checks the text in your autoresponder against a list of known spam keywords.
However, it cannot guarantee that your autoresponder will be delivered to all
recipients.
Figure 109 Check Your Email for Spam
If either the HTML or text versions of your email break any rules, take note of the
offending text and edit the autoresponder to not include the term.
Click the icon to close the Check your email for spam window.
12 Check that your autoresponder displays correctly in a variety of common email
clients. Click View your email in different email programs. The Email Validation
screen displays in a new window (see Validating an Email). When you have
finished, close the window.
13 If you want to test the autoresponder by sending it to your own email address:
• Enter the email address from which you want to send the test email in the Send
preview from this email field.
• Enter the email address to which you want to send the test email in the Send
preview to this email field.
• To send the test email, click Preview your email campaign. Check the inbox of
the account you entered in the Send Preview to this Email field.
14 Finish the autoresponder:
• Click Save & keep editing to save the new autoresponder and remain in this
screen to make further changes.
• Click Save and exit to save the new autoresponder and go to the View Custom
Templates screen (see Managing Custom Email Templates).
• Click Cancel to return to the View Custom Templates screen without saving the
template. Any changes you made are lost.
Editing HTML and Text
Pinpointe provides a full-featured WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) HTML
editor, including an HTML code editor and preview function, as well as a plain-text
editor.
Use these editors to create and modify templates, emails, autoresponders, and other
HTML and plain-text features.
Note: See the relevant section of this user’s guide for information on how to reach the
editing screen for each type of HTML or plain-text feature.
You can also validate your email, ensuring that it displays correctly in a variety of
popular email clients.
• See Using the HTML Editor for information on the WYSIWYG editor.
• See Using the Text Editor for information on the plain-text editor.
• See Validating an Email for information on checking how you email displays in
popular email clients.
Using the HTML Editor
Pinpointe’s built-in HTML editor is an HTML design tool that allows you to easily create
and modify your emails. You can use the WYSIWYG editing tool, work directly with
HTML code, and preview your email.
HTML Source Options
In some instances of the HTML editor, you have a choice of how to build the HTML
document.
• If you want to use the built-in WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor
in this page, select Create content using the WYSIWYG editor below.
• If you want to use an HTML file on your computer, select Upload a file from my
computer. Click the Browse button that displays. A file upload window displays;
locate and select the file you want to use and click OK. Click Upload. The HTML
editor screen updates to show the new file.
• If you want to use a file from a page on the Internet, select Import a file from a
web site and enter the full URL (for example,
“http://www.examplesite.com/examplepage.html”) in the field that displays.
Click Import. The HTML editor screen updates to show the new file.
HTML Editor Overview
The HTML editor is divided into three sections.
Figure 110 HTML Editor Overview
• Use Design Tools to control how text and images display, import material, create
hyperlinks and a variety of other tasks. See Using Design Tools for more
information.
• Use the Editing Window to control text blocks and image placement, and write
your email’s text content. See Using the Editing Window for more information.
• Use Tags and Tabs to switch between the Editing Window, the Source Window
and the Preview Window, and to show or hide the advanced Design Tools. You can
also see and select the HTML tags that relate to a selection in the WYSIWYG editor.
See Using Tags and Tabs for more information.
Using Design Tools
The Design Tools allow you to edit every aspect of your HTML document.
Note: Not all fields are available for all documents.
Note: Not all elements shown here display in Simple mode. To view all elements, click
Complete mode at the bottom of the screen. See Using Tags and Tabs.
Figure 111 HTML Design Tools
Table 30 HTML Design Tools
Theme
Click this to choose the text color scheme for your document.
Select a color to change all heading text to a matching color.
If you choose No color, the document’s default text color
scheme is used.
If you want to use a color that does not display in the list, click
More Colors. An advanced color picker displays. Select the
color you want to use, or enter its RGB (Red, Green, Blue)
values, and click OK.
Fullscreen mode
Click this to expand the HTML editor to occupy the full
browser window. When in fullscreen mode, click this icon
again to return to windowed mode.
Undo
Click this to undo the last change you made to the document.
Redo
Click this to repeat the last change you made to the
document.
Paste
Click this to place the contents of the clipboard into the
document at the insertion point.
• If you want to paste an image or formatted text, select
Paste.
• If you want to paste text, while removing text formatting,
select Paste as Plain Text.
• If the contents of the clipboard were taken from Microsoft
Word, select the Paste from MS Word option. This
removes formatting tags.
Find and replace
Click this to find and replace specific text. The Find/Replace
window displays.
Figure 112 The Find/Replace Window
• Enter the term you want to find in the Find what field. If
you want to replace the text with another term, enter it in
the Replace with field.
• If you want your search to be case-sensitive (for example,
“Search Term” is not the same as “search term”), select
Match case.
• If you want to search for complete words only (so a search
for “sea” does not return a match for “search”), select
Match whole word only.
• Click Find Next to search for the term you entered in the
Find what field.
• Click Replace to replace the highlighted text with the term
you entered in the Replace with field.
• Click Replace All to find every instance of the search term
you entered in the Find what field, and replace them with
the term you entered in the Replace with field.
• Click Close to close the Find/Replace window.
Check spelling
Click this to check the spelling of the text in your document.
• If you select text before clicking this icon, only the selected
text is checked.
• If you do not select any text before clicking this icon, all
the text in the document is checked.
Pinpointe checks the text. Any words that appear to be
spelled incorrectly are highlighted. Click a highlighted word
to see some suggestions.
Figure 113 Check Spelling
• Click a suggestion to replace the misspelled word with the
suggested word.
• Click Ignore to move on to the next word, or click Ignore
All to finish the spell check.
• If you want to allow a highlighted word in future spell
checks, click Add to Dictionary.
Bold
Click this to bold the selected text or, if the text is already
bolded, to remove bolding.
Underline
Click this to underline the selected text or, if the text is
already underlined, to remove the line.
Italic
Click this to italicise the selected text or, if the text is already
italic, to remove the italics.
Insert ordered list
Click this to insert a numbered list. If you select paragraphs
already in the document and click this, the text is converted
to a numbered list.
Insert unordered list
Click this to insert a bulleted list. If you select paragraphs
already in the document and click this, the text is converted
to a bulleted list.
Align left
Select text in the document and then click this to align the
text to the left side of its text box.
Align center
Select text in the document and then click this to align the
text to the center of its text box.
Align right
Select text in the document and then click this to align the
text to the right side of its text box.
Justify
Select text in the document and then click this to align the
text to both the left and right sides of its text box.
Help
Click this to see online help for the HTML editor from
Pinpointe knowledge base.
Remove text
formatting
Select text and click this to return the text to its default state.
Increase indent
Select text and click this to increase the space between the
text and the left side of its text box.
Decrease indent
Select text and click this to decrease the space between the
text and the left side of its text box.
Subscript
Select text and click this to reduce the text in size and drop it
below the regular level.
Superscript
Select text and click this to reduce the text in size and raise it
above the regular level.
Insert link
Select text, then click this to turn the text into a hyperlink.
The Link screen displays.
See Creating and Editing Hyperlinks for more information.
Create email link
Select text, then click this to turn the text into a link that a
recipient can click to send an email to the address that you
specify.
See Creating and Editing Email Links for more information.
Insert / modify anchor Click this to insert an anchor at the insertion point.
Select an existing anchor and click this to edit the anchor’s
name.
A window displays. Enter the new Anchor Name and click
OK.
Insert or modify an
image
Click this to upload an image to Pinpointe server and insert it
at the insertion point.
Select an existing image to edit its properties.
See Inserting and Editing Images for more information.
Table functions
Click this to see a menu that allows you to create and modify
HTML tables.
See Creating and Editing Tables for more information.
Form functions
Click this to see a menu that allows you to create and modify
HTML forms.
See Inserting and Editing Forms for more information.
Modify page
properties
Click this to see and edit basic information about the HTML
page. See Modifying Page Properties for more information.
Insert a custom field
Click this to insert a custom field. Custom fields use variables
to include information defined elsewhere. Most of these
variables are different for each subscriber (“contact’s email
address”, for example).
You can also define variables that are specific to each contact
list.
See Inserting Custom Fields for more information.
Font name
Select the font family that you want to use for the selected
text. If no text is selected, the change affects the entire
paragraph.
Font size
Select the font size that you want to use for the selected text.
If no text is selected, the change affects the entire paragraph.
Format
Select the heading style that you want to use for the selected
text. If no text is selected, the change affects the entire
paragraph.
Font color
Select text and click this to assign the color that displays to
the text.
To view a color picker, click the triangular icon next to the
button. Click a color to assign the color to the text.
If you want to use a color that does not display in the list, click
More Colors. An advanced color picker displays. Select the
color you want to use, enter its RGB (Red, Green, Blue)
values, or enter its hex value, and click OK.
Highlight
Select this and click this to highlight the text. Highlighting
text adds a colored background to the text.
To view a color picker, click the triangular icon next to the
button. Click a color to assign the color to the text
background.
If you want to use a color that does not display in the list, click
More Colors. An advanced color picker displays. Select the
color you want to use, enter its RGB (Red, Green, Blue)
values, or enter its hex value, and click OK.
Insert horizontal line
Click this to add a horizontal line at the insertion point. If the
insertion point is in a paragraph, the paragraph is split into
two.
Insert character
Click this to insert a non-standard character. Select the
character that you want to insert in the window that displays.
Show borders
Click this to see element borders. Click it again to hide
element borders.
Creating and Editing Hyperlinks
Use the Link screen to create and edit hyperlinks that allow recipients of your email to
click through to web pages on the Internet or files stored on Pinpointe server.
Note: The file to which you are linking must be available on the Internet. If you are
linking to a file that is not already available on the Internet, you can make it
available by uploading it to Pinpointe server. See Uploading Files and Images to
Pinpointe Server.
Note: For information on links that allow a recipient to send an email, see Creating and
Editing Email Links.
To access the Link screen, click the Insert Link (
Using the HTML Editor).
) icon in the HTML editor (see
Figure 114 The Link Screen
• If you want to link to an existing web page on the Internet, enter the full URL in the
Link Location field.
• See Creating Pre-defined Links for information on creating links related to common
Pinpointe features (unsubscribing from the contact list, for instance).
• See Specifying Window Type for information on specifying the type of window in
which the link opens.
• See Uploading Files and Images to Pinpointe Server for information on hosting
linked files on Pinpointe server so they can be accessed by your email’s recipients.
The following table describes the labels not discussed in the above-mentioned sections.
Table 31 The Link Screen: Common Fields
Anchor
If the document contains named anchors, select the destination anchor
from the list. When a recipient clicks the link, the email displays with the
anchor’s location at the top of the screen.
Style
If your document has styles defined, you can select a Style to have the
link display using the selected style.
Insert link
Once you have set up your hyperlink, click this to place the link in your
email document.
Remove link
If you are editing a hyperlink, click this to remove the link. The plain text
remains in your email document.
Cancel
Click this to close the Link screen without saving any changes.
Creating Pre-defined Links
Alternatively, use one of the Pre-defined Links to allow the recipient to take action
related to Pinpointe.
Table 32 The Link Screen: Pre-defined Links
Link to Contact List
Archives
Use this link to allow a user to see all the emails that have been sent to
this contact list in the past.
This option uses the %%mailinglistarchive%% variable.
Web Version of Email Use this link to allow a user to view the HTML version of this email,
stored on Pinpointe server, in their default web browser.
This option uses the %%webversion%% variable.
Unsubscribe Link
Use this link to allow users to remove their email addresses from the
contact list.
This option uses the %%unsubscribelink%% variable.
Specifying Window Type
If you want to specify the type of window in which the link opens, select an option in the
Target Window field. The HTML code displays in the field to the left.
Table 33 The Link Screen: Target Window Options
None
No HTML
Select this if you do not want to specify the type of window
in which the link opens.
Same frame
_self
Select this to have the link open in the same window as the
original email. If the original email uses frames, the new file
opens in the same frame as the link.
Whole page
_top
Select this to have the link open in the whole page of the
original email. If the original email uses frames, the new file
removes the frames.
New window
_blank
Select this to have the link open in a new browser window.
Parent frame
_parent
Select this to have the link open in the parent frameset. Use
this option when the original email uses multiple framesets.
Uploading Files and Images to Pinpointe Server
If you want to link to or embed a file that is not already available on the Internet (such
as an image or another HTML file on your computer), use the file list on the left of the
Links or Images screen. When you upload a file from your computer to this list it is
automatically hosted on Pinpointe server, and can be accessed over the Internet.
• Use the Links screen to upload files you want a recipient to access via a hyperlink.
See Creating and Editing Hyperlinks.
• Use the Images screen to upload images you want to embed in your email
document. See Inserting and Editing Images.
Table 34 Link and Images Screens: Uploading Files and Images
Upload File
Enter the filepath of the file on your computer that you
want to upload to Pinpointe server. Alternatively, use the
Browse button to locate the file.
Browse
Click this to locate a file you want to upload to Pinpointe
server.
A File Upload window displays. Locate the file and click
Open. Then, click Go to upload the file.
Go
Once you have selected a file to upload (the filepath
displays in the Upload File field) click this to upload the
file.
Upload more files
Click this to see two more fields where you can upload
more files. Click each field’s Browse button to select the
file you want to upload.
Upload more images
Note: The Upload more files button displays in the Links
screen, and the Upload more images button
displays in the Images screen.
New folder
Click this to create a new folder for uploaded files on
Pinpointe server. The current directory path displays
above the list.
A window displays in which you can name the new folder.
Enter the new name and click OK.
Rename selected
file/folder
Select a file or folder and click this to rename the file or
folder.
Note: Click a folder’s icon to select it.
A window displays in which you can rename the folder.
Enter the new name and click OK.
Delete selected
file/folder
Select a file or folder and click this to remove the file or
folder.
Note: If you delete a folder, all files and subfolders within
the folder are also deleted.
Preview selected file
Select a file and click this to see a preview of the file. A
new window opens, displaying the file. Close the window
to return to the Link screen.
Note: This icon displays only in the Link screen.
Download selected
file
Select a file and click this to download the file to your
computer.
Note: This icon displays only in the Link screen.
Toggle thumbnails
Click this to show or hide image thumbnails.
Note: This icon displays only in the Images screen.
Set image as
background
Select an image and click this to use the image as the
background for your document. If the image is not the
same size as the document, it is repeated (tiled).
Note: This icon displays only in the Images screen.
Creating and Editing Email Links
Use the Email Link screen to create and edit links that recipients can click to send an
email to the address that you specify. Email links use the HTML mailto command. Take
the following steps to create or edit an email link:
1 To create a new email link in your document, select text in the HTML editor (see
Using the HTML Editor) and click the Create email link button (
).
To edit an existing email link, select the link in the document and click the Create
email link button.
The Email Link screen displays.
Figure 115 The Email Link Screen
2 Enter the Email Address to which you want the email to be sent.
3 If you want to specify the email subject (for example, “Response to Newsletter
#15”), enter the subject line in the Subject field.
4 If your document has styles defined, you can select a Style to have the link display
using the selected style.
5 Click Insert Link to place the email link in your document.
Alternatively, click Remove Link to return the selected text in your document to
its default state.
Click Cancel to close the Email Link screen without saving any changes.
The email link displays in the HTML editor.
Inserting and Editing Images
Use the Images screen to insert or edit an image in your document.
• To insert an image, access the HTML editor (see Using the HTML Editor). Place the
insertion point where you want the image to appear, then click the Insert or modify
an image button ( ).
• To edit an image, access the HTML editor. Select the image you want to edit, then
click the Insert or modify an image button.
You can also resize, drag and drop images in the editing window. See Using the
Editing Window.
Note: Pinpointe allows you to use the following image types in your document: bitmap
(.bmp), graphics interchange format (.gif), JPEG (.jpg), portable network graphics
(.png), tagged image file format (.tif or .tiff).
Figure 116 The Images Screen
Images in your documents must be uploaded to Pinpointe server, or available
elsewhere on the Internet. Use the fields on the left side of this screen to upload images
to Pinpointe server, and configure the server’s file structure. See Uploading Files and
Images to Pinpointe Server for information on these fields.
The following table discusses the fields on the right side of this screen.
Table 35 The Images Screen
External image
If the image you want to insert is available on the Internet, but not on
Pinpointe server, enter the full URL here
(“http://www.examplesite.com/exampleimage.jpg”, for instance).
Load
Enter an image’s URL in the External image field and click this to display
the image in the image field below.
View preview in new
window (
)
This icon displays once you have selected an image from Pinpointe
server, or entered a URL in the External image field and clicked Load.
Click this icon to open a new browser window, displaying the selected
image at full size.
Alt text
Enter the text that displays if the image is unavailable (for example, if the
server is offline or the recipient’s email client blocks images).
Note: Not all email clients support Alt text.
Border
Specify the width of the border around the image. Enter 0 if you do not
want a border around the image.
Note: To change the border color, insert the image and then use the Font
color tool ( ) to select the new border color.
Width
Specify the width of the image in pixels.
Note: This field is configured automatically when you select or load an
image; you do not need to change it if you do not want to resize the
image.
Height
Specify the height of the image in pixels.
Note: This field is configured automatically when you select or load an
image; you do not need to change it if you do not want to resize the
image.
Horiz space
Enter the amount of empty space to left and right of the image in pixels.
Vert space
Enter the amount of empty space above and below the image in pixels.
Align
Select where the image should display in relation to the paragraph of text
in which it is placed. Bear in mind that not all HTML viewers display
aligned images in exactly the same way.
Baseline: this aligns the image with the baseline of the text.
IM
E
AG
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Top: aligns the image with the top of the tallest possible letters in the line
of text (even if there are no tall letters).
IM
A
E
G
war games
Middle: in most browsers, this aligns the baseline of the line of text with
the middle of the image.
IM
E
AG
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
However, in some browsers this aligns the middle of the text with the
middle of the image (like ABSmiddle).
IM
E
AG
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Bottom: this behaves the same as Baseline.
IM
A
E
G
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
In some older browsers, “bottom” referred to the absolute bottom of the
text (including letters with “tails,” such as g and y).
TextTop: this is very similar to Top. This aligns the image with the tallest
actual letters in the line of text.
war games
IM
E
AG
ABSmiddle: this aligns the middle of the text with the middle of the
image.
IM
AG
E
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
ABSbottom: this aligns the bottom of the image with the absolute
bottom of the text, including letters with “tails,” such as g and y.
IM
A
E
G
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Left: this places the image at the left margin. Text flows around the
image.
E The quick brown fox jumps over the
G
A lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps
IM
over the lazy dog. The quick brown
fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown
fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Right: this places the image at the right margin. Text flows around the
image.
The quick brown fox jumps over the
E
G
lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps
A
over the lazy dog. The quick brown IM
fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown
fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Style
If your document has styles defined, you can select a Style to have the
image display using the selected style.
Title
Enter a title for the image. In most HTML viewers, this displays when the
recipient places the mouse pointer over the image. However, not all
email clients support this.
Note: If you want nothing to display when the recipient places the mouse
pointer over the image, leave this blank.
Reset properties
Click this to return the image properties to their default values.
The image’s Width and Height return to their full size values.
Any information in the following fields is deleted: Alt text, Border, Horiz
space, Vert space, Align, Style and Title.
Edit image
Click this to open the image in a new window and edit it using the
Snipshot online image editing tool.
At the time of writing, this tool allows you to:
• Resize the image.
• Crop the image.
• Enhance the image.
• Adjust the image’s aspect ratio, tilt (horizontal angle), exposure,
contrast, saturation, hue and sharpness.
• Rotate the image.
• Turn a color image to greyscale.
See www.snipshot.com for more information.
Note: This field displays only when you are inserting a new image.
Insert image
Click this to place the image into your document at the insertion point.
Note: This field displays only when you are inserting a new image.
Modify image
Click this to save your changes to the image and return to the HTML
editor.
Note: This field displays only when you are editing an existing image in
your document.
Cancel
Click this to close this window and return to the HTML editor without
saving your changes.
Creating and Editing Tables
In HTML, tables allow you to arrange information in horizontal rows and vertical
columns.
• To insert a table, access the HTML editor (see Using the HTML Editor). Place the
insertion point where you want the table to appear, then click the Table functions
button ( ) and select Insert table. The Insert table screen displays (see Inserting a
Table).
• To edit a table, access the HTML editor. Select the table you want to edit, then click
the Table Functions button.
You can also resize tables, and add rows and columns, in the editing window. See
Using the Editing Window.
Inserting a Table
Take the following steps to insert a table in a document:
1 In the HTML editor, click the Table functions button (
The Insert table window displays.
) and select Insert table.
Figure 117 Insert Table
2 Enter the number of horizontal Rows and vertical Columns you want your table to
have.
3 Enter the number of Cell Padding pixels you want to give your table. Cell padding
inserts space between the edges of each table cell and the text inside the cell.
4 Enter the number of Cell Spacing pixels you want to give your table. Cell spacing
inserts space between the cells in your table.
5 Define the Width of your table. You can define the table width in pixels by
entering an integer (for example, “150”), or as a percentage of the recipient’s
browser window by entering a percentage (for example, “75%”).
6 Define the Height of your table, if required. As with the Width, enter an integer to
define the table height in pixels, or enter a percentage value to define the table
height as a percentage of the recipient’s browser window. If you leave this value
blank, the table’s default height is equal to the text height, plus cell padding and
spacing for each row, multiplied by the number of rows.
7 If you want to define a Background color for the table, click the color picker icon
(
). Alternatively, enter a color’s hex value (“#ffffff”, for instance).
8 If you want your table to have a Border, specify its width. If you want a table with
no borders, enter “0” in this field.
Note: The border does not display in the Edit screen; click the Preview tab (see Using
Tags and Tabs) to see the table as it will display in the recipient’s email client.
9 In the Align list, select how you want the table to be displayed in its container.
• Select Left to have the table display at the left-hand margin.
• Select Right to have the table display at the right-hand margin.
• Select Center to have the table display in the middle of the container.
10 If your document has styles defined, you can select a Style to have the table
display using the selected style.
11 Click OK. Your table displays in the HTML editor.
Alternatively, click Cancel to close the Insert table screen without making any
changes.
Modifying Table Properties
Take the following steps to change the properties of an existing table in a document:
1 In the HTML editor, click inside the table you want to modify.
2 Click the Table functions button ( ) and select Modify table properties.The
Modify table properties screen displays.
Figure 118 Modifying Table Properties
3 Make the changes to the table’s properties. The fields that display are the same as
those in the Insert table scree. See Inserting a Table for information on how to
modify the fields.
4 Click OK. The changes to your table display in the HTML editor.
Alternatively, click Cancel to close the Modify table properties screen without
making any changes.
Modifying Cell Properties
Take the following steps to change the properties of a cell in an existing table in a
document:
1 In the HTML editor, click inside the cell you want to modify.
Note: Pinpointe supports the modification of one cell at a time.
2 Click the Table functions button ( ) and select Modify cell properties.The
Modify cell properties screen displays.
Figure 119 Modifying Cell Properties
3 If you want to define a Background color for the cell, click the color picker icon
(
). Alternatively, enter a color’s hex value (“#ffffff”, for instance).
4 Enter the Cell width and Cell height, if required. The Cell width field affects all
cells in the same column as the selected cell, and the Cell height field affects all
cells in the same row as the selected cell.
5 In the Horizontal Align list, select how you want text or images to display in the
selected cell.
• Select Left to have the text or image display at the left-hand cell margin.
• Select Right to have the text or image display at the cell’s right-hand margin.
• Select Center to have the text or image display in the horizontal middle of the
cell.
6 In the Vertical Align list, select how you want text or images to display in the
selected cell.
• Select None to have the text or image display in its default vertical location.
• Select Top to have the text or image display at the upper cell margin.
• Select Middle to have the text or image display at the vertical middle of the cell.
• Select Bottom to have the text or image display at the bottom cell margin.
7 Click OK. The changes to your cell display in the HTML editor.
Alternatively, click Cancel to close the Modify cell properties screen without
making any changes.
Inserting and Deleting Columns
Take the following steps to add a column to a table in a document:
1 In the HTML editor, select a table cell next to which you want to add a column.
2 Click the Table functions button ( ). Select Insert column to the right or Insert
column to the left.
The new column displays in the HTML editor.
Take the following steps to delete a column from a table in the HTML editor:
1 In the HTML editor, select a table cell in the column you want to delete.
2 Click the Table functions button ( ). Select Delete column.
The column is deleted from the table.
Inserting and Deleting Rows
Take the following steps to add a row to a table in a document:
1 In the HTML editor, select a table cell above or below which you want to add a row.
2 Click the Table functions button ( ). Select Insert row above or Insert row
below.
The new row displays in the HTML editor.
Take the following steps to delete a row from a table in a document:
1 In the HTML editor, select a table cell in the row you want to delete.
2 Click the Table functions button ( ). Select Delete row.
The row is deleted from the table.
Increasing and Decreasing Column Span
Take the following steps to merge a table cell into the column to its immediate right
(increase column span) or split a table cell from a cell with which it was previously
combined (decrease column span):
Note: A cell can be split down to a single column width, and no further.
1 In the HTML editor, select a table cell in the column you want to modify.
2 Click the Table functions button ( ).
3 Select Increase column span to merge the cell with the cell to its right, or select
Decrease column span to split a multi-column cell from its rightmost section.
The cell displays in the HTML editor at its modified width.
Increasing and Decreasing Row Span
Take the following steps to merge a table cell into the row beneath it (increase row
span) or split a table cell from a cell with which it was previously combined (decrease
column span):
Note: A cell can be split down to a single row height, and no further.
1 In the HTML editor, select a table cell in the column you want to modify.
2 Click the Table functions button ( ).
3 Select Increase row span to merge the cell with the cell beneath it, or select
Decrease row span to split a multi-row cell from its lowest section.
The cell displays in the HTML editor at its modified width.
Inserting and Editing Forms
HTML forms allow recipients of your email to perform a variety of tasks. They can enter
information in form fields, select options using radio buttons, check boxes and list
boxes, and click buttons to send or reset the form. Furthermore, hidden form fields in
your emails do not display in the recipient’s email client, but convey information back
to you when a form is sent.
Forms reference scripts in order to perform the required action. These scripts may be
located on Pinpointe server, or on another server on the Internet. Alternatively, forms
can use an HTML mailto command to email the form contents to a specified address.
When you want to add a form to your document, first insert a new form and then add
the required fields to the form.
Note: Bear in mind that popular email clients handle forms differently. Some clients do
not display forms, whereas others do not permit full form functionality. An
alternative to using forms in your email is to link to a page on your website where
a recipient can perform the required task.
Inserting a Form
Take the following steps to add a form to a document:
1 In the HTML editor, place the insertion point where you want the form to appear.
Click the Form functions button ( ) and select Insert form. The Insert form
screen displays.
Figure 120 Insert Form
2 Enter the Name you want to give this form.
Note: If this form references a script that specifies the form by name, the Name must
be identical to the name in the script.
3 In the Action field, specify the location of the script you want this form to
reference, for example:
http://www.somesite.com/somefolder/examplescript.php
Note: If you do not enter the full URI, Pinpointe automatically appends its server
information to the location you specify.
Alternatively, you can specify an email address to which to send the form’s
content; use the following format:
mailto:[email protected]
4 Select the Method this form uses.
• Select None if you do not want to specify the form submission method.
• Select Get if you want the form content to be transmitted as a URI. The form
content is added to the URI specified in the Action field, using a question mark
(“?”) as a separator. For example:
http://www.somesite.com/somefolder/examplescript.php?name=val
ue
• Select Post if you want the form content to be transmitted as a message (using
an HTTP POST operation) to the URI specified in the Action field. The message
contains the form content in the following format:
name1=value1&name2=value2&name3=value3
5 Click OK to insert the form, or click Cancel to close the Insert form window
without saving any changes. See Inserting and Modifying Form Fields for
information on adding the form fields you require.
Modifying Form Properties
Take the following steps to change the properties of an existing form in a document:
1 In the HTML editor, select the form you want to modify. Click the Form functions
button ( ) and select Modify form properties. The Modify form properties
screen displays.
2 Make your changes to the form. The fields that display in this screen are the same
as those in the Insert form screen; see Inserting a Form.
3 Click OK to modify the form, or click Cancel to close the Modify form properties
window without saving any changes.
Inserting and Modifying Form Fields
Once you have created a form in your HTML document (see Inserting a Form) you can
insert the form fields you require.
Click the Form functions button (
displays:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
). Select one of the options from the list that
Inserting a Text Field
Inserting a Text Area
Inserting a Hidden Field
Inserting a Button
Inserting a Checkbox
Inserting a Radio Button
Inserting a List Box
Note: To modify an existing form field, select the field in the HTML editor. Click the
Form functions button ( ). The options that display are the same as before,
except “Insert” is replaced with “Modify” in each option. The screens that display
when you click the options are also the same.
Inserting a Text Field
A text field is a simple, one-line field in which a user may enter data.
1 Click the Form functions button and select Insert Text Field.
Figure 121 Insert Text Field
2 Enter the field’s Name. This is displayed next to the user-entered value when the
form content is sent.
3 If you want text to display in the field before the user enters anything, enter the
text in the Initial value field.
4 Specify the Character width, if required, and enter the maximum number of text
characters the user may enter in the Maximum characters field.
5 If you want the text in this field to display as asterisks (“*”) select Password in the
Type field. Otherwise, select Text.
6 If your document has styles defined, you can select a Style to have the field
display using the selected style.
7 Click OK to save your changes and close the window. Alternatively, click Cancel to
close the window without saving any changes.
Inserting a Text Area
A text area is a text field with multiple lines, in which a user may enter data.
1 Click the Form functions button and select Insert Text Area.
Figure 122 Insert Text Area
2 Enter the field’s Name. This is displayed next to the user-entered value when the
form content is returned.
3 If you want text to display in the field before the user enters anything, enter the
text in the Initial value field.
4 Specify the Character width, if required.
5 Enter the number of lines of text to display (the text area’s height) in the Lines
field.
6 If your document has styles defined, you can select a Style to have the field
display using the selected style.
7 Click OK to save your changes and close the window. Alternatively, click Cancel to
close the window without saving any changes.
Inserting a Hidden Field
A hidden field is a form field that does not display on the screen, but contains data to be
sent as part of the form content when the form is returned.
1 Click the Form functions button and select Insert Hidden Field.
Figure 123 Insert Hidden Field
2 Enter the field’s Name. This is displayed next to the initial value when the form
content is sent.
3 Enter the field value in the Initial value field. Since this is a hidden field, there is no
opportunity for the user to change this value.
4 Click OK to save your changes and close the window. Alternatively, click Cancel to
close the window without saving any changes.
Inserting a Button
Use buttons to allow the user to submit (send) or reset (clear) the form in which they
appear, or to include the button’s value in the form content.
1 Click the Form functions button and select Insert Button.
Figure 124 Insert Button
2 Enter the button’s Name.
3 Enter the text that displays on the button in the Initial value field.
4 Select the Type of button you want to create:
• Select Button to create a default button.
• Select Submit to create a button that sends the form in the manner you
specified in the Insert form screen (see Inserting a Form).
• Select Reset to create a button that returns the fields in the form to their default
values (blank or displaying their Initial values).
5 If your document has styles defined, you can select a Style to have the button
display using the selected style.
6 Click OK to save your changes and close the window. Alternatively, click Cancel to
close the window without saving any changes.
Inserting a Checkbox
Checkboxes (
) allow users to select options in a form. Use checkboxes when a user
may enter multiple choices from a range of options.
Note: Unlike radio buttons, when multiple checkboxes in the same form have the same
Name, a user may select multiple checkboxes, or none. For this reason it is
advised to use checkboxes when a user may select all, none, or a variety of
options.
1 Click the Form functions button and select Insert Checkbox.
Figure 125 Insert Checkbox
2 Enter the checkbox’s Name.
3 Enter an Initial value field. This value will be returned along with the Name when
the form is sent.
4 Select the Initial State of the checkbox:
• Select Unchecked to have the button empty (off) by default.
• Select Checked to have the button selected (on) by default.
5 If your document has styles defined, you can select a Style to have the checkbox
display using the selected style.
6 Click OK to save your changes and close the window. Alternatively, click Cancel to
close the window without saving any changes.
Inserting a Radio Button
Radio buttons ( ) allow users to select options in a form. Use radio buttons when a
user may select only one of a range of options.
When multiple radio buttons in a form have the same Name, only one may be checked
at a time.
Note: Unlike checkboxes, radio buttons cannot be “unchecked” (deselected) by clicking
on them a second time. The only way to deselect a radio button is to select
another radio button in the form with the same Name. For this reason, it is
advised to use radio buttons when the user must select one option or another (for
example, “Yes, I want to receive updates” or “No, I don’t want to receive updates”)
and to specify one of the radio buttons as selected by default (use the Initial
state list).
1 Click the Form functions button and select Insert Radio Button.
Figure 126 Insert Radio Button
2 Enter the radio button’s Name. Give all radio buttons in the same options list the
same Name.
3 Enter an Initial value field. This value will be returned along with the Name when
the form is returned.
4 Select the Initial State of the radio button:
• Select Unchecked to have the radio button empty (off) by default.
• Select Checked to have the radio button selected (on) by default.
5 If your document has styles defined, you can select a Style to have the radio
button display using the selected style.
6 Click OK to save your changes and close the window. Alternatively, click Cancel to
close the window without saving any changes.
Inserting a List Box
List boxes, also known as select fields, allow users to select an option from a drop-down
or static list.
1 Click the Form functions button and select Insert Select Field.
Figure 127 Insert List Box
2 Enter the radio button’s Name.
3 Configure the Maintain options fields. These fields allow you to populate the
Current options list and specify the Values that are returned in the form.
• Enter the Text that you want to display in the list.
• Enter the Value for the list option. Note that the Value returned and the Text
displayed may be completely different, if required.
• Select Selected if you want the list option to be selected by default.
• Click Add to include the option in the list.
• Select an option in the list, edit it, and click Update to save the changes.
Alternatively, click Add to keep the option with its old values and create a new
option with the new values.
• Select an option in the list and click Delete to remove it from the list.
4 Select the Type of list:
• Select Single select to allow the user to select only one option.
• Select Multiple select to allow the user to select multiple options.
5 Enter the height of the list box (in text rows) in the Size field:
• Enter 0 (default) to have the list display in a single row with a drop-down icon
(Single select) or in the same number of rows as list options (Multiple select).
• Enter 1 (Multiple select only) to have the list display in a single row with no
drop-down icon. This is not recommended.
• Enter 2 or higher (Multiple select only) to display the specified number of rows.
The user may navigate the list using the scroll bar on the right of the list box.
6 If your document has styles defined, you can select a Style to have the list display
using the selected style.
7 Click OK to save your changes and close the window. Alternatively, click Cancel to
close the window without saving any changes.
Modifying Page Properties
Take the following steps to modify your document’s basic settings, including
background and color setup:
Note: You do note need to modify the Page Title, Description, or Keywords in the
Page properties window. These properties are standard HTML, but are designed
for web pages and are not relevant when creating HTML emails.
1 In the HTML editor, click Modify page properties (
).
Figure 128 Page Properties
2 Specify a Background image by pasting the image’s URL into the field. If the
image is larger than the HTML browser window, it is repeated (tiled).
Alternatively, specify a Background color by clicking the color picker icon (
) or
entering the color’s hex value (“#ffffff”, for instance).
3 If you want to change the default Text color or Link color (the color of text
associated with a hyperlink) click the appropriate color picker, or enter a color’s
hex value in the appropriate field.
4 Click OK to save your changes and close the window. Alternatively, click Cancel to
close the window without saving any changes.
Inserting Custom Fields
Custom fields allow you to include recipient-specific variables in your email campaigns,
without manually configuring each email. This is similar to the mail merge feature
available in some word processing, spreadsheet and database applications.
Custom fields use variables that refer to information configured and listed elsewhere.
The information contained in most variables is different for each subscriber (“contact’s
email address”, for instance).
You can also define variables that are specific to each contact list.
Custom field variables are identified in the editor by the pair of percentage symbols to
right and left of the variable name. For instance, if you define a “city” custom field, the
variable appears in your document as “%%city%%”.
Take the following steps to insert a custom field into your document:
1 In the HTML editor, place the insertion point where you want the custom field to
display. Click Insert a custom field ( ).
Figure 129 Custom Fields
The General custom fields that display are standard fields built into Pinpointe.
General custom fields relating to your company are specific to each contact list. For
example, you can specify different contact phone numbers for different contact lists.
Define these fields in the Contact lists > Create a contact list screen, or the Contact
lists > View contact lists > Edit screen, for each contact list.
The other custom fields that display are those you created yourself, and are arranged
by the contact list with which they are associated. Click a contact list name to see the
fields with which it is associated. If a custom field is associated with more than one
contact list, it appears in both lists.
The following table describes the built-in General custom fields:
Table 36 General Custom Fields
Contact list name %%listname%%
The name of the contact list to which the
contact belongs.
Unsubscribe link
%%unsubscribelink%%
A hyperlink recipients can click to remove
themselves from the contact list.
Contact’s email
address
%%emailaddress%%
The email address to which the email is
sent.
Email
confirmation link
%%confirmlink%%
A hyperlink recipients can click to confirm
that they want to receive your emails.
Subscribe date
%%subscribedate%%
The date on which the contact was added
to the contact list.
Link to web
version of this
email
%%webversion%%
A hyperlink recipients can click to see the
HTML version of the email, stored on
Pinpointe server.
Link to contact
list archive
%%mailinglistarchive%%
A hyperlink recipients can click to see the
HTML versions of all emails sent to the
contact list to which they belong, stored on
Pinpointe server.
Company name
%%companyname%%
Your company’s name.
Company
address
%%companyaddress%%
Your company’s address.
Company phone
number
%%companyphone%%
Your company’s telephone number.
Using the Editing Window
Use the editing window in the HTML editor to:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Add and delete text blocks.
Compose and edit text.
Manipulate images.
Manipulate text and image containers.
Compose and edit HTML.
Preview your email.
Adding and Deleting Text Blocks
When you are using a document containing text blocks, you can easily add and delete
and
icons that display.
blocks using the
Note: This option is not available in all documents.
Figure 130 Text Block Icons
• Click the add block icon ( ) to insert a duplicate of the selected block directly
after the selected block.
• Click the delete block icon ( ) to remove the selected block from the document.
Note: When there is only one block remaining in an HTML section (a table cell), the
delete block icon does not display.
Composing and Editing Text
You can use the HTML editor’s Edit tab to compose and edit text directly, in the same
way as you would with a standard word processor or standalone web authoring tool.
Place the insertion point where you want to create, edit or paste text. Use the textrelated tools in the Design tools section of the editor to control the text formatting.
You can also right-click over text to display shortcuts to text-related design tools (see
Using Design Tools).
Figure 131 Right-Click (Text)
Manipulating Images
The HTML editor’s Edit tab allows you to drag-and-drop images, and change their size
and aspect ratio.
You can also right-click over an image to display shortcuts to image-related design
tools (see Using Design Tools).
Figure 132 Right-Click (Image)
Dragging-and-dropping an Image
To drag-and-drop an image, select the image and, holding the left mouse button down,
drag it to the desired location (the new location must be within an HTML section
capable of containing images). The cursor indicates the exact position to which the
image will move. Release the left mouse button.
Note: The way in which an image displays is controlled by its image properties. To
change the properties, select the image and click the Insert or modify image
button ( ). See Inserting and Editing Images for information on modifying
image properties.
Resizing an Image
To resize an image, select it and use the handles that display to drag it to its new size or
shape.
Use the handles at the corners of the image’s borders (circled in orange) to resize the
image, preserving its aspect ratio. Use the handles at the center of the image’s borders
(circled in red) to reshape the image, changing its aspect ratio.
Figure 133 Resizing Images
Manipulating Text and Image Containers
Pinpointe’s HTML document layouts are based on HTML tables. Text and images are
placed inside the table cells. Use the HTML editor’s Edit tab to resize tables, add and
delete rows and columns.
You can also right-click over a table to display shortcuts to table-related design tools
(see Using Design Tools).
Figure 134 Right-Click (Table)
Resizing Tables
To resize a table, click anywhere in the table. Use the handles that display to drag it to
its new size or shape.
• Use the handles at the corners of the table’s borders (circled in orange) to alter the
table’s width and height simultaneously.
• Use the handles at the center of the image’s vertical borders (circled in red) to alter
the table’s width.
• Use the handles at the center of the image’s horizontal borders (circled in blue) to
alter the table’s height.
Figure 135 Table Icons
While you are resizing a table, a field displays showing the table’s current size (in pixels),
and the number of pixels it has changed in each dimension, in the following format:
[current width] x [current height] ([horizontal change],
[vertical change])
Note: When you resize a table, its aspect ratio is not preserved.
Adding and Deleting Table Rows and Columns
To add and delete rows and columns, select a table cell. Icons display at the cell border.
Figure 136 Cell Icons
• Click the left arrow ( ) to add a column to the right of the selected cell.
• Click the right arrow (
) to add a column to the right of the selected cell.
• Click the up arrow ( ) to add a row above the selected cell.
• Click the down arrow ( ) to add a row below the selected cell.
• Click the delete column (
located.
• Click the delete row (
) icon to delete the entire column in which the cell is
) icon to delete the entire row in which the cell is located.
Composing and Editing HTML
To edit your document’s HTML code manually, click the Source tab under the editing
window.
Figure 137 Editing HTML
The buttons at the top of the screen are described in Using Design Tools.
Previewing Your Email
To see how your email will display in the recipient’s email client, click the Preview tab
under the editing window.
Figure 138 Previewing an Email
Note: To ensure that your email displays correctly in all popular HTML email clients, it is
strongly advised that you use the Email validation feature as well as the Preview
screen. See Validating an Email.
Using Tags and Tabs
The Tags and Tabs section displays at the bottom of the HTML editor screen.
Custom Fields
The Tags and Tabs section offers two shortcut buttons that allow you to quickly add
custom fields to your document. Custom fields let you enter variable information into
your emails that differs for each contact (or contact list).
Figure 139 Custom Field Buttons
• Click Insert a custom field to open the Custom fields window. See Inserting
Custom Fields. The custom field you select is added to your document at the
insertion point.
• Click Insert unsubscribe link to place the %%unsubscribelink%% variable at the
insertion point. This creates a link the recipient can click to be removed from the
contact list.
Simple and Complete Modes
The HTML editor has two modes; simple and complete. In complete mode, you can use
more design tools to control text, forms and page properties. See Using Design Tools.
To switch between simple and complete mode, click the link at the bottom of the
HTML editor screen.
Figure 140 Simple and Complete Mode Link
• Click Simple mode to go to simple mode. The following design tools are available.
Figure 141 Simple Design Tools
• Click Complete mode to go to complete mode. The following design tools are
available.
Figure 142 Complete Design Tools
Using HTML Tags
When you click a section of your email document in the WYSIWYG editor (click the Edit
tab) a variety of HTML tags display beneath the edit window.
Figure 143 HTML Tags
The tags that display are those that affect the element you select.
For example, if you select a piece of text in a table cell that is part of a table in the body
of the HTML, the tags that display are those that define the cell, the table row, the
table column, the table itself, and the body.
Note: Tags that display with a stylesheet class name (for example, “span.myClass”)
have a style applied to them.
Use the HTML tags to precisely select HTML elements for editing. This is particularly
useful when tags are nested and selection with the mouse is difficult or impossible.
When you select a tag, all the elements the tag affects are highlighted in the editing
window. Remove tag and Edit tag links appear in the right of the screen.
Figure 144 Remove and Edit HTML Tags
Removing a Tag
Click Remove tag to delete the tag. The corresponding closing tag is also deleted; for
instance, if you select “<b>” (bold text) and then click Remove tag, the corresponding
“</b>” tag is also deleted.
Note: When you delete a tag, all other tags between the opening and closing tag are
also deleted. However, text is not deleted.
Editing a Tag
Click Edit tag to change the tag’s properties. A window appears, displaying the opening
and closing tags, and all code in between.
Figure 145 Editing a Tag
Edit the code, and click OK to save your changes and close the window. Alternatively,
click Cancel to close the window without saving your changes.
Using Tabs
The tabs at the bottom of the HTML editor allow you to switch quickly between the
WYSIWSG editor, the HTML code editor, and the email preview window.
Figure 146 HTML Editor Tabs
• Click Edit to go to the WYSIWYG editor (see Using the Editing Window).
• Click Source to go to the HTML code editor (see Composing and Editing HTML).
• Click Preview to go to the email preview window (see Previewing Your Email).
Using the Text Editor
The text editor controls the text element of your document. This element is sent to the
recipient in plain text.
• If your recipient’s email client cannot display HTML emails, the text element is all
the recipients see.
• If you selected Text in the screen where you define your document, the text
element is all the recipients see, even if their email clients are capable of displaying
HTML emails.
• If you selected HTML in the screen where you define your document, the text editor
does not display. Select HTML and text or Text instead.
There are two basic ways of using plain text emails.
1 You can use a plain text email to send the full text of your email. You can do this
whether or not you also send an HTML element. If you also send an HTML element,
the main text should be the same in both elements since a recipient will see only
one element, and not the other.
2 When you want to send multipart emails (those with both HTML and plain text
elements) you can also use the plain text element to inform recipients whose
email clients cannot display HTML emails of this fact, and to redirect them to the
web-based version of the HTML email.
Note: Most built-in templates are multipart.
Creating a Plain Text Email
Take the following steps to build a plain text document:
1 In the editor, scroll down to the Text content section.
Figure 147 Create a Custom Document: Text Content
2 Specify how you want to build the text document.
• If you want to use the built-in text editor, select Type text into the text box
below.
• If you want to use a text file on your computer, select Upload a file from my
computer. Click the Browse button that displays. A file upload window displays;
locate and select the file you want to use and click OK. Click Upload. The text
editor screen updates to show the new file.
• If you want to use a file from a page on the Internet, select Import a file from a
web site and enter the full URL (for example,
“http://www.examplesite.com/examplepage.html”) in the field that displays.
Click Import. The text editor screen updates to show the new file.
3 Edit the text manually:
• If you selected Type text into the text box below, enter the text you want to
send. Alternatively, click Get text content from editor (at the bottom of the
screen) to paste the text from the HTML editor into the plain text editor.
• If you selected Upload a file from my computer or Import a file from a web
site, you may need to edit the text for formatting so it displays correctly.
Note: Use the vertical grey line in the text editor as a guideline for your email’s
maximum line width. The line represents a line width of sixty-five characters;
longer lines may be wrapped onto the next line by some email clients, making
them awkward to read. However, if you are not concerned about this then you
can use lines longer than sixty-five characters.
4 Insert custom fields to add variable information to the text, such as your
recipient’s email address. You can also add links to allow recipients view the online
HTML version of the email, and remove themselves from the email list.
• Click Insert a custom field to open the Custom fields window. See Inserting
Custom Fields. The custom field you select is added to your document at the
insertion point.
• Click Insert unsubscribe link to place the %%unsubscribelink%% variable at
the insertion point. This creates a link the recipient can click to be removed from
the contact list.
Validating an Email
Like web browsers, popular email clients display HTML in different ways. However,
email clients are even less consistent than web browsers. For example, some email
clients fail to support basic HTML techniques such as forms and CSS (Cascading Style
Sheets). For this reason, it is highly important to check that your HTML email will
display acceptably in all common email clients.
Do this using Pinpointe’s Email validation feature. This feature tests your email by
mimicking common email clients display inconsistencies and displaying the results on a
single screen.
Note: Pinpointe’s built-in templates are already optimized to display optimally in all
common email clients.
Note: This feature is not available in all instances of the HTML editor (those that allow
you to design web pages, for instance).
Take the following steps to validate your HTML document:
1 In the screen where you define your document, scroll down to the Email
validation section.
2 Click View your email in different email programs.
The Email Validation screen is divided into three parts.
Figure 148 Email Validation
• Use the Preview bar to select the email client you want Pinpointe to emulate in
the validation window. By default, the Original HTML version displays.
In the drop-down list box, select HTML preview to see how the HTML email will
look in the specified client, or select Text preview to see how the text version of
the email will look.
• Use the Rule bar to see whether if your email breaks any of the rules used by
each popular email client. If your email is completely compliant with a client’s
rules, a
icon displays. If it is not completely compliant, a
icon displays.
Note: Just because a
icon displays does not necessarily mean that your email will
display poorly; there are many ways in which an email may break a client’s rules
without significant problems. Read the error message that displays beneath the
icon and check the email by clicking on the client program’s name in the preview
bar.
• Use the Validation window to check how your email displays in the client you
choose in the preview bar.
Using Statistics
This chapter discusses how to use the Stats menu in the navigation bar.
Figure 149 The Stats Menu
Statistics Overview
Use the statistics screens to view general and detailed information about Pinpointe’s
various subjects, such as email campaigns, autoresponders, contact lists and user
accounts. Each screen provides you with a variety of statistical information.
• See Viewing Email Campaign Statistics for information on viewing statistics about
the email campaigns you have sent out to your contacts.
• See Viewing Autoresponder Statistics for information on viewing statistics about
the autoresponder you send out to contacts at predefined intervals.
• See Viewing Contact List Statistics for information on viewing statistics about the
behavior of the contacts in your contact lists.
• See Viewing User Account Statistics for information on viewing statistics about the
users of Pinpointe (including yourself).
• See Managing Statistics for information on performing a variety of tasks in the
Stats screens, such as exporting statistics, printing statistics, and using the detailed
statistics screens.
Viewing Email Campaign Statistics
To view statistics about email campaigns, click Statistics in the navigation bar, then
click Email campaign statistics.
Note: This screen displays information about only the campaigns you have already sent
out.
This screen shows an overview of your email campaigns, and some basic statistics
about each. You can:
• View a campaign’s detailed statistics. These include statistics about the number of
opened emails, links, bounced emails, unsubscribed contacts, and forwarded emails.
• Export a campaign’s statistics to a CSV (Comma-Separated Value) file.
• Print a campaign’s statistics.
• Delete a campaign’s statistics from Pinpointe. The statistics cannot be retrieved.
Figure 150 Viewing Email Campaign Statistics
Table 37 Viewing Email Campaign Statistics
Choose an action
Select one or more email campaigns, select an option from the list and
click Go to perform the selected action.
Select a box belonging to an email campaign before choosing an option
from the Choose an action list.
Select the box at the top of the column to select all campaigns.
Email campaign
name
This displays the name of the email campaign.
List name
This displays the name of the list with which this email campaign is
associated.
Date started
This displays the date and time at which the campaign started sending.
Date finished
This displays the date and time at which the campaign completed
sending.
Recipients
This displays the number of contacts to whom the email campaign was
sent.
Unsubscribes
This displays the number of contacts who subsequently unsubscribed
from the contact list using the link in the email.
Bounces
This displays the number of emails sent in this campaign which could not
be delivered.
Action
• Click View to see detailed statistics about the campaign. See Viewing
Detailed Email Campaign Statistics.
• Click Export to save a campaign’s statistics as a CSV (CommaSeparated Value) file. See Exporting Statistics.
• Click Print to select the campaign’s statistics you want to print, view a
preview of the printed document, and send the print job to your
printer. See Printing Statistics.
• Click Delete to remove a campaign’s statistics from Pinpointe. The
statistics cannot be retrieved.
Viewing Detailed Email Campaign Statistics
To view detailed statistics about an email campaign, click Stats in the navigation bar,
then click Email campaign statistics. Click a campaign’s View link.
Note: See Using the Detailed Statistics Screens for further information on these screens.
The Detailed email campaign statistics screen displays at the Statistics snapshot tab.
Figure 151 Detailed Email Campaign Statistics
The following table describes the tabs in this screen.
Table 38 Detailed Email Campaign Statistics
Statistics snapshot
Use this tab to see general information about the email campaign, as well
as the number of opened, unopened and bounced emails. You can also
see the percentage of emails that were opened, and the click-through
percentage.
Open stats
Use this tab to see information about the number and percentage of
emails in this campaign that were opened by their recipients. You can
also see the date on which an email was opened by an individual
recipient, and whether it was opened as HTML or plain text.
Link stats
Use this tab to see information about the number and percentage of links
in this email campaign that were clicked by their recipients, as well as the
average number of clicks per email, and the most popular link in this
campaign. You can also see which individual recipients clicked on a link,
and at what date and time.
Bounce stats
Use this tab to see information about the number and percentage of
undeliverable emails in this campaign, as well as the number of hard
bounces and soft bounces. You can also see the type of bounce (hard or
soft) for each bounced email, the exact reason that the email was not
delivered, and the date and time at which the bounce occurred.
Note: Hard bounces are emails that were not delivered because of a
permanent reason (for instance, the email account does not exist),
whereas soft bounces are emails that were not delivered for a
temporary reason (for instance, the recipient’s inbox was full).
Unsubscribe stats
Use this tab to see information about the number of contacts who have
unsubscribed using a link in this email campaign. You can also see the
email address of each contact, the date and time at which the contact
unsubscribed, and the month with the greatest number of contacts
unsubscribing.
Forwarding stats
Use this tab to see information about the number of contacts who have
forwarded this email campaign to their friends.
Viewing Autoresponder Statistics
To view statistics about autoresponders, click Statistics in the navigation bar, then click
Autoresponder statistics.
This screen shows an overview of your autoresponders, and some basic statistics about
each. You can:
• View an autoresponder’s detailed statistics. These include statistics about the
number of autoresponders sent out and opened, links, bounced autoresponders,
unsubscribed contacts, and forwarded autoresponders.
• Print an autoresponder’s statistics.
• Delete an autoresponder’s statistics from Pinpointe. The statistics cannot be
retrieved.
Figure 152 Viewing Autoresponder Statistics
Table 39 Viewing Autoresponder Statistics
Choose an action
Select one or more autoresponders, select an option from the list and
click Go to perform the selected action.
Select a box belonging to an autoresponder before choosing an option
from the Choose an action list.
Select the box at the top of the column to select all autoresponders.
Name this
autoresponder
This displays the name of the autoresponder.
Contact list
This displays the name of the list with which this autoresponder is
associated.
Sent
This displays the time after signup that this autoresponder is sent.
Recipients
This displays the number of contacts to whom the autoresponder has
been sent.
Unsubscribes
This displays the number of contacts who subsequently unsubscribed
from the contact list using the link in the autoresponder.
Bounces
This displays the number of autoresponders of this type that could not be
delivered.
Action
• Click View to see detailed statistics about the autoresponder. See
Viewing Detailed Autoresponder Statistics.
• Click Print to select the autoresponder’s statistics you want to print,
view a preview of the printed document, and send the print job to your
printer. See Printing Statistics.
• Click Delete to remove an autoresponder’s statistics from Pinpointe.
The statistics cannot be retrieved.
Viewing Detailed Autoresponder Statistics
To view detailed statistics about an autoresponder, click Stats in the navigation bar,
then click Autoresponder statistics. Click an autoresponder’s View link.
Note: See Using the Detailed Statistics Screens for further information on these screens.
The Detailed autoresponder statistics screen displays at the Statistics snapshot tab.
Figure 153 Detailed Autoresponder Statistics
The following table describes the tabs in this screen.
Table 40 Detailed Autoresponder Statistics
Statistics snapshot
Use this tab to see general information about the autoresponder, as well
as the number of opened, unopened and bounced autoresponders. You
can also see the percentage of autoresponders that were opened.
Open stats
Use this tab to see information about the number and percentage of
autoresponders that were opened by their recipients. You can also see
the date on which an autoresponder was opened by an individual
recipient, and whether it was opened as HTML or plain text.
Link stats
Use this tab to see information about the number and percentage of links
in this autoresponder that were clicked by their recipients, as well as the
average number of clicks per autoresponder, and the most popular link in
this autoresponder. You can also see which individual recipients clicked
on a link, and at what date and time.
Bounce stats
Use this tab to see information about the number and percentage of
undeliverable autoresponders, as well as the number of hard bounces and
soft bounces. You can also see the type of bounce (hard or soft) for each
bounced autoresponder, the exact reason that the autoresponder was
not delivered, and the date and time at which the bounce occurred.
Note: Hard bounces are autoresponders that were not delivered because
of a permanent reason (for instance, the email account does not
exist), whereas soft bounces are autoresponders that were not
delivered for a temporary reason (for instance, the recipient’s inbox
was full).
Unsubscribe stats
Use this tab to see information about the number of contacts who have
unsubscribed using a link in this autoresponder. You can also see the
email address of each contact, the date and time at which the contact
unsubscribed, and the month with the greatest number of contacts
unsubscribing.
Forwarding stats
Use this tab to see information about the number of contacts who have
forwarded this autoresponder to their friends.
Contact information
Use this tab to see information about the contacts to whom this
autoresponder has been sent.
Viewing Contact List Statistics
To view statistics about contact lists, click Statistics in the navigation bar, then click
Contact list statistics.
This screen shows an overview of your contact lists, and some basic statistics about
each. You can:
• View an contact list’s detailed statistics. These include statistics about the domains
to which your contacts in this list belong, the number of emails sent to this list that
are opened, the number of links in emails to this list that are clicked, the number of
emails to this list that have bounced, the number of contacts who have
unsubscribed from the list, and the number of emails forwarded by this list’s
contacts.
• Print an contact list’s statistics.
Figure 154 Viewing Contact List Statistics
Table 41 Viewing Contact List Statistics
Contact list
This displays the name of the contact list.
Created
This displays the date on which this contact list was set up.
Contacts
This displays the number of contacts in this list.
Unsubscribes
This displays the number of contacts who have unsubscribed from this
contact list.
Action
• Click View to see detailed statistics about the contact list. See Viewing
Detailed Contact List Statistics.
• Click Print to select the contact list’s statistics you want to print, view
a preview of the printed document, and send the print job to your
printer. See Printing Statistics.
Viewing Detailed Contact List Statistics
To view detailed statistics about a contact list, click Stats in the navigation bar, then
click Contact list statistics. Click a contact list’s View link.
Note: See Using the Detailed Statistics Screens for further information on these screens.
The Detailed contact list statistics screen displays at the Contacts snapshot tab.
Figure 155 Detailed Contact List Statistics
The following table describes the tabs in this screen.
Table 42 Detailed Contact List Statistics
Contacts snapshot
Use this tab to see general information about the contacts belonging to
this contact list. This includes a summary of the contacts in the list who
are unconfirmed, confirmed, have unsubscribed, have had emails
bounced, and have forwarded emails. The information is arranged by
month.
Top 10 domain name
confirmed contacts
Use this tab to see information about the domains to which your
confirmed contacts’ email addresses belong. This information is ranked
according to the number of email addresses belonging to a domain. You
can also see information about the number of contacts who are
confirmed, unconfirmed, have unsubscribed, have had emails bounced,
and have forwarded emails, ranked by domain.
Open stats
Use this tab to see information about the number and percentage of
emails that were opened by members of this contact list. You can also see
the date on which an email was opened by an individual recipient, and
whether it was opened as HTML or plain text.
Link stats
Use this tab to see information about the number and percentage of links
in emails that were clicked by their members of this contact list, as well as
the average number of clicks per email, and the most popular link overall.
You can also see which individual recipients clicked on a link, and at what
date and time.
Bounce stats
Use this tab to see information about the number and percentage of
undeliverable emails sent to this contact list, as well as the number of
hard bounces and soft bounces. You can also see the type of bounce
(hard or soft) for each bounced email, the exact reason that the email was
not delivered, and the date and time at which the bounce occurred.
Note: Hard bounces are emails that were not delivered because of a
permanent reason (for instance, the email account does not exist),
whereas soft bounces are emails that were not delivered for a
temporary reason (for instance, the recipient’s inbox was full).
Unsubscribe stats
Use this tab to see information about the number of contacts who have
unsubscribed from this list. You can also see the email address of each
contact, the date and time at which the contact unsubscribed, and the
month with the greatest number of contacts unsubscribing.
Forwarding stats
Use this tab to see information about the number of contacts in this list
who have forwarded emails to their friends.
Viewing User Account Statistics
To view statistics about Pinpointe’s user accounts, click Statistics in the navigation bar,
then click User account statistics.
Note: Configure user accounts in the User account screens; see Configuring User
Accounts.
This screen shows an overview of your contact lists, and some basic statistics about
each. You can View an user account’s detailed statistics.
Figure 156 Viewing User Account Statistics
Table 43 Viewing User Account Statistics
Username
This displays the user’s username.
Full name
This displays the user’s full name.
Activity status
This displays Active if the user may log into Pinpointe and send emails.
This displays Inactive if the user exists in the system, but may not log in
or send emails.
User type
This displays the user’s privilege level. See Configuring User Permissions
for more information.
Action
Click View to see detailed statistics about the user. See Viewing Detailed
User Account Statistics.
Viewing Detailed User Account Statistics
To view detailed statistics about a user account, click Stats in the navigation bar, then
click Contact list statistics. Click a contact list’s View link.
Note: See Using the Detailed Statistics Screens for further information on these screens.
The Detailed contact list statistics screen displays at the Contacts snapshot tab.
Figure 157 Detailed User Account Statistics
The following table describes the tabs in this screen.
Table 44 Detailed User Account Statistics
User account
statistics (snapshot)
Use this tab to see statistics about the user’s creation date and last login
date, the number of email campaigns, autoresponders and contact lists
the user has created, and the number of opened and bounced emails the
user has sent out.
Emails sent
Use this tab to view the number of emails the user has sent in a given
period.
Managing Statistics
This section describes how to export statistical information to a CSV (CommaSeparated Values) file, print statistics, and use the Detailed statistics screens.
Exporting Statistics
Take the following steps to export statistics to a CSV file:
1 Click Stats in the navigation bar, then click the option you want to export. In the
screen that displays, click an entry’s Export link. Alternatively, select multiple
entry’s checkboxes and select Export from the Choose an action menu.
2 The page reloads. An information bar displays.
Note: This example shows the information bar for Email campaign statistics.
Figure 158 Exporting Statistics
3 If you want to see the CSV file in your browser, click the Click here link.
If you want to save the file to your computer, right-click on the link and select
Save link as.... A dialog box displays. Use the dialog box to save the exported CSV
file.
Printing Statistics
Take the following steps to print out statistics:
Note: If you have a PDF generation application (such as Adobe Acrobat) you can also
create a PDF file.
1 Click Stats in the navigation bar, then click the option you want to print. In the
screen that displays, click an entry’s Print link. Alternatively, select multiple
entry’s checkboxes and select Print from the Choose an action menu. The Print
Statistics screen displays.
Note: This example uses the screens for Email campaign statistics. The screens for
other types of statistics are similar.
Figure 159 Printing Statistics
2 Select the types of statistics you want to include in the printed output.
3 Click Preview to see how the printed output will look. The preview opens in a new
browser window.
Figure 160 Printing Statistics: Preview
4 Close the preview window. In the Print Statistics screen, click Print. A print dialog
box opens.
Figure 161 Printing Statistics: Print Dialog
Select the printer you want to use. Click Properties to configure the print job
further.
Note: If you want to make a PDF file and have a PDF generation application (such as
Adobe Distiller), select the application from the Name menu.
5 Click OK to send the print job to the printer.
Using the Detailed Statistics Screens
When you click a View link in one of the statistics screens, a Detailed statistics screen
displays. This screen contains multiple tabs, each of which displays a different subset of
information about the subject (see the section on each screen for information on each
tab).
Each detailed statistics screen shares many features:
• Use the list at the left of each screen to see detailed statistical information about
the relevant subject.
Figure 162 Detailed Statistics: Detailed List
• Each Detailed statistics screen opens at the Snapshot tab. In most instances, this
screen contains a circular pie chart (those that do not contain a pie chart contain a
timeline).
Figure 163 Detailed Statistics: Pie Chart
To display information about a segment of the chart, place the mouse pointer over
the segment, or an item in the key on the left.
To make a segment more visible by detaching it from the rest of the chart, click on
the segment or the corresponding item in the key.
• Screens that do not contain a pie chart contain a timeline.
Figure 164 Detailed Statistics: Timeline
This displays the number of instances on the y (up) axis, and the time on the x
(across) axis.
Note that the timeline runs from right to left; the most recent information is on the
left, next to the y axis.
• Control the timeline by defining its Date range.
Figure 165 Detailed Statistics: Date Range
Select the time period you want to view from the drop-down list. If you select
Custom, select the start and end dates in the fields that display.
Figure 166 Detailed Statistics: Custom Date Range
• Beneath the graphical representation of the information in the screen is a list of all
the relevant records represented in the pie chart or timeline. Use this list to see each
individual record.
Figure 167 Detailed Statistics: Individual Records
• Some screens contain a list box that allows you to refine the statistics in the screen.
For example, you can see information on all links clicked by recipients, or select a
specific link to see statistics. Select the option from the list, then click Go.
Figure 168 Detailed Statistics: Refine Lists
III
THE TOOLBAR
This section contains the following chapters:
Using The Home Screen
Using Pinpointe Settings
Using Templates
Configuring User Accounts
Using Tools
Using The Home Screen
This chapter discusses the screen that displays when you click the Home link in the
toolbar.
Note: This is the screen that displays by default when you log in.
Figure 169 The Home Link
Using the Home Screen
Click Home in the toolbar.
Figure 170 The Home Screen
Table 45 The Home Screen
Contact activity for
the last seven days
This graph in the upper half of the screen illustrates the activity of your
contacts, emails and autoresponders in the last seven days.
• Unconfirmed contacts are people who have been added to one of
your contact lists, but have not yet confirmed that they want to
receive emails.
• Confirmed contacts are people who have confirmed that they want
to receive emails (by clicking a link in a confirmation email). You can
also confirm contacts yourself.
• Unsubscribes are people who have removed themselves from one of
your lists.
• Bounces are emails that could not be delivered.
• Forwards are emails you sent that have subsequently been forwarded
by a contact to someone else (using a form you can add to the email).
I would like to
This section displays links to some common tasks.
Note: If this section does not display, click Switch to quick links.
Getting Started
This section displays a list of tasks that you can take to start sending
emails with Pinpointe quickly and easily. Starting at the top of the list,
click the links and follow the instructions.
Note: If this screen does not display, click Switch to getting started
links.
Version check
This section displays the version number of Pinpointe you are using, and
lets you know if a more recent version is available.
Popular help articles
This section displays links to some useful articles answering common
questions about Pinpointe.
Did you know?
This section displays a useful tip about using Pinpointe or fine-tuning
your emails.
Note: Reload the screen to see a new tip.
Using Templates
This chapter discusses how to use the Templates menu in the toolbar.
Figure 182 The Templates Menu
Templates Overview
Templates control the look of your email. They specify which fonts and text colors to
use, the background colors and images to display, and the size and shape of the text
areas on the user’s screen.
How Templates Work
Templates use HTML (HyperText Markup Language) to define your email’s aesthetics.
The user’s email client reads this information and displays the email accordingly. This
gives your email the same design flexibility found in HTML web design.
Note: If in doubt, it is strongly advised that you configure email templates to send both
HTML and plain text elements (multipart). Some email clients cannot display
HTML, and some users turn HTML display off, so it is important to transmit a
plain text element as well.
You can assign templates to new email campaigns, or to autoresponders.
Advantages of Templates
Using templates to coordinate your email campaigns confers two main advantages.
First, your email is instantly recognizable. You can use templates to define or extend
corporate branding by presenting the user with your company’s color scheme, logo and
associated imagery. Second, your email is consistent. When you use a template for your
email campaigns over a period of time, you know that each email you send is based on
the same design, and will convey the same message. This is particularly useful when
multiple people may be sending out email campaigns from your company.
Built-in and Custom Templates
Pinpointe includes a huge variety of built-in templates, ready for you to use out of the
box. They have been designed and tested with interoperability in mind, so they will
display correctly in all common HTML email clients.
You can also create your own custom email templates. Either use the included
WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, or upload an HTML file from your
local computer or a remote URL as the basis for the template.
Testing Your Template
Like Internet browsers, email clients often display email in different ways. What looks
correct in one client can look incorrect in another. When you create your own template,
use the email validation tool (see Validating an Email) to check that the template
displays correctly in a variety of common email clients.
Managing Custom Email Templates
Once you have created a custom email template (see Creating and Editing Custom
Email Templates), you can:
• Delete: remove the template from Pinpointe. The template cannot be retrieved.
• Activate: allow the template to be used for a new email campaign or autoresponder.
• Deactivate: prevent the template from being used for a new email campaign or
autoresponder.
• Make Global: allow all users to use the template, regardless of their privileges.
• Remove From Global: allow only certain users to use the template.
Configure user template privileges in the User Account > Create User > User
Permissions screen for each user.
You can also view, edit, or copy a template.
To manage a custom email template you already created, click Templates in the
toolbar, then Custom email templates.
Figure 183 Templates: Custom Email Templates
Table 48 Templates: Custom Email Templates
Create a Custom
Template
Click this to go to the Create a Custom Email Template screen. See
Creating and Editing Custom Email Templates.
Choose an action
Select one or more custom templates, select an option from the list and
click Go to perform the selected action.
Select a box belonging to a template before choosing an option from the
Choose an action list.
Select the box at the top of the column to select all custom templates.
Template Name
This displays the name you gave to the template. Click Edit to change the
name. An identification (id) number displays next to the name,
indicating the order in which the templates were created.
Created
This displays the date you created the template.
Email Format
• Text displays if emails using this template are sent in plain text only.
• HTML displays if emails using this template are sent in HTML only.
• HTML and Text displays if emails using this template are sent in
multipart form.
Note: Multipart emails have both an HTML element and a plain text
element. Plain text displays if a user’s email client cannot display
HTML.
Active
A tick (
) displays if the template is available to be used for a new
email campaign or autoresponder.
A cross (
) displays if the template is not available to be used for a new
email campaign or autoresponder.
Global
A tick ( ) displays if all users can use the template.
A cross (
) displays if only the users you allow to may use the
template.
Action
• Click View to see a full-screen version of the template.
• Click Edit to update the template. The screens that display are similar
to the Create a Custom Email Template screens (see Creating and
Editing Custom Email Templates).
• Click Copy to create a new copy of the template. The new template
displays, with “Copy of” appended to the original name, and the id
incremented to the next available number.
• Click Delete to remove the template from Pinpointe.
Creating and Editing Custom Email Templates
Pinpointe allows you to create custom email templates using the built-in editor. You
can build a template from scratch, edit an existing built-in template, or base your
template on an HTML file you upload from your computer or a remote URL.
Note: If you want to create a new template based on a custom template you created
previously, use the Templates > Custom email templates screen to copy the
template, then edit the new template. See Managing Custom Email Templates.
Creating a Custom Email Template
Take the following steps to create a custom email template:
1 Click Templates in the toolbar and select Create a custom template.
Figure 184 Templates: Create a Custom Template
2 Enter a new Template Name.
3 Select the type of template you want to create.
• Select HTML and Text if you want emails you send using this template to be
sent with both HTML and plain text elements (multipart). Email clients that can
display HTML messages use the HTML element, and clients that cannot display
HTML use the plain text element.
• Select Text if you want emails you send using this template to be sent in plain
text only.
• Select HTML if you want emails you send using this template to be sent in
HTML only. If you select this option, your emails will not display in email clients
that cannot display HTML messages.
4 If you want to base this email template on an existing template, select the
template in the Email template list. A preview of the template displays.
If you do not want to base this email template on an existing template, select No
template in the Email template list.
5 Click Next.
Figure 185 The Template Editor
Note: If you selected Text only in the previous page, the HTML Content section in this
page does not display. Likewise, if you selected HTML only, the Text Content
section in this page does not display.
6 Customize the HTML template using the editor. See Using the HTML Editor for
more information.
7 Customize the text template using the editor. See Using the Text Editor for more
information.
8 Check that your template displays correctly in a variety of common email clients.
Click View your email in different email programs. The Email Validation screen
displays in a new window (see Validating an Email). When you have finished, close
the window.
9 Configure the Miscellaneous options.
• Select Yes, this template is active if you want the template to be available for
use once you have saved it. Otherwise, deselect this option. You can activate
the template later.
• Select Yes, this template is global if you want the template to be available to
all users. If you want to restrict the template to certain users, deselect this
option. You can configure individual user’s privileges in the User Account >
Create User > User Permissions screen.
10 Finish the template.
• Click Save to save the new template and remain in this screen to make further
changes.
• Click Save and exit to save the new template and go to the View Custom
Templates screen (see Managing Custom Email Templates).
• Click Cancel to return to the View Custom Templates screen without saving the
template. Any changes you made are lost.
Editing a Custom Template
Take the following steps to edit an existing template:
1 Click Templates in the toolbar and select Custom email templates. Click Edit
next to the template you want to edit. The Update Template screen displays.
Figure 186
Custom Email Templates: Update Template
2 Configure the template details.
• If you want to change the Template Name, enter the new name.
• If you want to change the Template Format, select the new format.
3 Click Next. The screen that displays is the same as Figure 185. Follow steps 6 to 10.
Viewing Built-In Email Templates
Pinpointe has a wide variety of built-in email templates designed for different uses.
To view the built-in templates, click Templates in the toolbar and select View built-in
templates.
Figure 187 View Built-in Templates
• To see a template in full-screen mode, click Show larger preview or click the
template’s thumbnail icon.
• To use a template in an email campaign, click Email campaigns > Create email
campaign and select the template.
• To modify a template for later use in an email campaign, create a new custom
template based on the built-in template. See Creating and Editing Custom Email
Templates.
IV
TROUBLESHOOTING
This section contains the following chapters:
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting
This chapter describes some common problems, and their likely solutions. Use this
chapter to diagnose and solve problems you may have with Pinpointe.
If you are not sure what effects a certain troubleshooting action will have, contact the
relevant administrator or service provider, or get in touch with your software vendor.
Make all configuration changes at your own risk!
Note: If you cannot perform a task that you think you should be able to, the most likely
reason is that your user account does not have the required privileges. Before you
take any other steps, use the User accounts screens (see Configuring User
Accounts), or check with your organization’s Pinpointe administrator.
Problem: I Forgot My Password
1
2
3
4
Go to the login screen (see Logging In to Pinpointe).
Click the Forgot your password? link.
In the screen that displays, enter your Username.
Click Send email. An email is sent to the email address associated with your
username in Pinpointe. Follow the instructions in the email.
Problem: I Can’t Send Emails
• You may have exceeded the mail quota imposed by your host. This limits the
number of emails you may send in a specific period. Check with your host if you are
unsure.
• Your host may require that the emails you send have a particular From or ReturnPath (bounce) address, or a specific domain name (for example, any account
@exampledomain.com). Check with your host.
• Your server’s IP address may have been blacklisted. This can happen if emails from
the server appear to be spam. You can use an online service to check whether your
server’s IP is blacklisted, for example the Anti-Abuse Project’s multi-RBL (Real-time
BlackList) check, at the following URL:
http://www.anti-abuse.org/multi-rbl-check/
• If you are using a third-party SMTP server, check to ensure that your server, login
and port details are correct. Also, ensure that you are allowed to make connections
to remote servers on the desired port. Firewall restrictions on outgoing connections
may disallow the fsockopen PHP function.
Problem: I Can’t Import Contacts from a CSV File
• You may not have permission to upload contacts from a CSV file. To change a user’s
permissions, use the Export contacts to a file checkbox in the User accounts > Edit
> User permissions screen.
• Your CSV file may be incompatibly formatted. Check the CSV formatting to ensure
that it can be read by Pinpointe. Check that the information in your CSV file is
correctly formatted:
1 Each entry must be on a new line; one line of details per contact.
2 There must be no blank lines.
3 The number of fields in each contact’s entry must be consistent.
Note: Make sure you are using a CSV file and not an Excel (or other spreadsheet) file.
• Your CSV file may contain information that breaches Pinpointe’s content type rules.
For example, if some of the email address with which you want to populate Email
address fields in your contact list do not follow a correct email address convention,
the data may be rejected.
• Your CSV file may be too large. Break the file into two halves and upload both.
• PHP on Pinpointe server may be in safe mode. Check with your server administrator.
Problem: I’m Having Trouble with the WYSIWYG (HTML) Editor
Check that the HTML code you are using is valid. You can use an online service such as
the World Wide Web Consortium’s HTML validator tool, available at the following URL:
http://validator.w3.org/
Make sure that the browser you are using to edit your template, email or autoresponder
does not have the Skype toolbar, Skype add-on or RealPlayer toolbar installed. If you
have any of these installed, disable or uninstall them. They can adversely affect the
HTML code in the editor.
Problem: I Want to Add a Contact to Multiple Contact Lists
You cannot add a contact to multiple lists using Pinpointe interface. However, you can
create a website form that allows a user to join multiple contact lists.
1 Click Forms > Create website form.
2 Select multiple contact lists in the Contact lists/custom fields section.
3 Ensure that the List choices field appears in the Change field order (drag & drop)
section.
See Creating and Editing Forms.